


Restoring the Missing Pieces

by Evie_adams273



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Delphi is still evil, M/M, Memories, Nervous, Pain, Parental Relationships, Promise, Promises, Scorbus, This gets better, awkward boyfriend, eventually, pain will end, record-breaking gay, rugby tackle, scorbus au fest, selfless boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 07:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20404261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evie_adams273/pseuds/Evie_adams273
Summary: When Scorpius emerged from the lake, he knew immediately that he was in love. And when Albus admitted that he felt similarly, he felt like the luckiest person in the world. Until their attempts to make the world a safer place went catastrophically wrong, and Scorpius was left to pick up the pieces of it all.





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> So this was meant to be a oneshot. I wrote it. I can't publish a 24000 word one shot so this will be published over the next three days.  
Thank you @sunshinescorpius for slogging through this for 7 hours to edit. You're a literal angel and I love you.  
Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

In the moments that Scorpius watched Albus resurface in the lake, floundering a few feet away from him, he knew. He had no idea how or why he knew, but he knew. Albus stared around at them, rambling about the Merman that he had seen and someone with a trident. And Scorpius just stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was feeling, why he was feeling it.  
“It’s you!” he blurted.  
“It was weird though,” Albus frowned. “I thought I saw Cedric start to expand – but then he sort of started shrinking again – and I looked at you and you had your wand out…”  
“You have no idea how good it is to see you again!”  
“You just saw me five seconds ago.”

Scorpius paddled towards him, pulling Albus into a hug, holding on for as long as he possibly could.  
“I love you,” Scorpius whispered. “Albus, I…oh shit. Albus. I…”  
“What?”  
“I love you. I didn’t know and then…I love you.”  
“Oh,” Albus froze for a moment.

Scorpius pulled away awkwardly, sensing the tension in the air, and pulled himself up onto the bank, starting to pull his robes off. He hated the things, and he’d thought several times that they were going to be the reason he drowned in the lake.  
“What are you wearing?” Albus frowned.  
“What am I wearing?” Scorpius shook his head. “What are you wearing?”

He looked at Albus, his heart leaping when he saw the familiar green and silver bathing suit that he was wearing.  
“Yes! You’re in Slytherin!”  
“Did it work?” Albus asked. “Did we do anything?”  
“No,” Scorpius grinned. “And it’s brilliant.”  
“What? We failed?”  
“Yes,” Scorpius nodded. “Yes! And it’s amazing!”

He started to pull his robe jacket off, discarding the sopping material on the floor. Albus pulled himself out on the bank beside him, his face still a mask of confusion that he directed at Scorpius.  
“Scorpius,” he said slowly. “Have you been eating too many sweets again?”  
“There you go, you see,” Scorpius grinned, “all dry humour and Albus-y – oh I love you.”

Albus froze again, before starting to speak again. However, before he could get a word out, Harry and Ginny Potter, Professor McGonagall and his father were sprinting towards them, shouting, asking if they were okay.

Scorpius screamed excitedly, screeching their names. He had never been so pleased to see them, living and breathing. And safe. Alive and safe. “And dad,” he trailed off as he reached his father.  
“My dad. Hi. Dad.”  
“Hello, Scorpius,” his father passed him a dry robe awkwardly, before stepping away again.  
“You’re all here,” Albus stared around.  
“And Myrtle told us everything,” Ginny nodded.  
“What is going on?” Albus tried to smile.  
“You’re the one who’s just returned from time,” Professor McGonagall said sharply. “Why don’t you tell us?”

Scorpius looked around quickly, trying to work out what they knew, what they didn’t know. And what they couldn’t know. He didn’t trust them. He didn’t trust any of them anymore. So he kept the Time-Turner slipped in his pocket.  
“Oh no,” he pretended to search his pockets. “Oh bother. Where is it?”  
“Just returned from where?” Albus grinned, looking around in a bad attempt of blankness.  
“I’ve lost it!” Scorpius tried to pretend to be shocked. “I’ve lost the Time-Turner.”  
“You’ve lost what?” Albus continued to attempt to feign innocence.  
“Time to cut the pretence, Albus,” Harry half-snapped.  
“I think you two have got some explaining to do.”

Scorpius flinched as his father grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, pulling him away from the lake and up towards the school. After a minute or so, he worked up the courage to pull away and walk upright. And alone. Albus was a little way in front of him, apparently walking as slowly as he could afford to with his parents walking behind him.

He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t angry that Albus hadn’t responded to him – it was a random, quite shocking thing to simply announce out of nowhere. But he had ignored it. There had been no acknowledgement to fact that he had even said anything. And he wanted Albus to know. And now Albus did know.

Maybe afterwards, maybe Albus would say something afterwards. Maybe he just had to be patient. He could be patient. He could be patient.

Harry and Draco took their sons down to the Slytherin dormitories, and the two of them changed in silence, trying to dry themselves off quickly. Professor McGonagall was a thunderstorm and neither of them had any interest in keeping her waiting. They weren’t stupid. They knew they were in trouble that was deeper than anything they had ever seen before. Even if you did count the experiences in the other world.

Once they were both vaguely dry, wearing dressing gowns, they were taken up to Professor McGonagall’s office. Scorpius barely looked anywhere other than the floor as Albus tried to explain what they had done. And then, when his story ran out, he had to attempt to summarise what had happened in Voldemort’s world.

He could barely bring himself to speak about it, simply because of the mounting fear and terror in his mind. He mentioned who his father had been, but did not mention what had happened. He couldn’t talk about that. He couldn’t say that one of the few people he truly loved had hurt him.

It didn’t matter that he had seen his darkened father look disgusted with himself. It didn’t matter that he had regretted it. It had happened. And he couldn’t relive that, not over and over and over.

Because it would be over and over and over. Until the end of time.

Once he had finished his mumbled explanation, he continued to stare at the floor as Professor McGonagall shouted at them. He knew that she was right. He knew that she was perfectly valid to shout at them, because they had done the wrong thing. They had messed everything up.

The punishment was deserved. The harsh words were necessary. And Scorpius couldn’t find himself caring.

The more he thought about it, the more he considered that Albus’ silence towards him was actually dislike. He had announced something that could have been life-changing like it was nothing. It had been a shock to him. What if that had changed, morphed, into dislike. Into hatred.

The thought terrified him. He had been without Albus for too long. He couldn’t face losing Albus again, in any form.

He couldn’t live in a world where he was scared of his father and hated by his best friend. He couldn’t face it.

He shook himself silently. He was being stupid. Albus didn’t hate him. Albus was just slightly scared of Professor McGonagall. Like he was. It would be fine. Once he’d had some time to process it, they’d talk about it.

Scorpius didn’t mind if Albus didn’t love him in the same way. That was okay. It wasn’t reasonable to expect the same back. As long as they could remain friends. As long as it didn’t force them apart.

It wouldn’t. It would be fine. It would be absolutely fine. Probably. It would probably be fine.

As they walked out the office afterwards, Scorpius said goodbye to his dad, waited for Albus to say goodbye to his parents for the time being (they were going to search the lake for a Time-Turner that they were never going to find), and then they walked back to the Common Room. Scorpius remained silent, staring mainly at the floor.

He wished that he had said more to his dad, either an apology or something more about what had happened. He didn’t want to leave their relationship to tumble even more than it already had. He wanted to admit that he was scared, and be able to move past it. Except he was too scared to admit that. His dad was already annoyed with him. He didn’t want to make it worse. He didn’t want to make anything worse.

Which was why he was still silent as they walked down the corridor. Most people were in lesson, so it was pretty much silent. And then Albus stopped walking.

Scorpius forced himself to take a deep breath as he did the same, biting his lip nervously.  
“Scorp,” Albus said slowly.  
“I’m really sorry,” Scorpius started to ramble. “I shouldn’t have just said it and I should have waited or tried to prepare you or something. I’m really sorry–”  
“Scorp,” Albus interrupted softly, smiling. “Stop.”  
“…sorry,” Scorpius finished lamely.  
“You – you love me?”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “I just – you didn’t exist there. And I kept thinking I was never going to see you again. And it didn’t really click. And then I saw you. And it did. And I just…I don’t know. I get it if you don’t like me or anything. I mean it’s fine. I–”  
“Shh,” Albus smiled softly. “Just, slow down. A bit.”

Scorpius stared at the floor awkwardly, and then looked up as Albus put a hand under his chin softly, lifting his head so that they were looking each other in the eye.  
“I love you too,” he whispered. “And I know you’re going to overthink it if I leave it like this.”  
“Probably.”  
“So…”

* * *

Albus leaned towards Scorpius, running his hand up into his arm as he kissed him softly. Scorpius, apparently surprised by the movement, tensed for a moment, before relaxing and kissing Albus back. Albus giggled softly as Scorpius tried to step closer and stumbled a few steps.

Albus went with him, not letting him go. His hair was still damp, dripping down the back of his neck into his dressing gown, and Albus smiled as they stopped, wrapping his arms around his friend and burying his face in his shoulder.  
“I love you,” he murmured. “I bloody love you.”  
“You do?” Scorpius asked, still somewhat nervous.  
“Yes,” Albus laughed. “Yes I do, you muppet.”

Scorpius laughed awkwardly and Albus took his hands gently. Scorpius looked down at the floor awkwardly and Albus stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.  
“We should probably go to class,” Scorpius mumbled.  
“Probably,” Albus smiled. “But we could also probably get away with not going.”  
“It’s potions,” Scorpius reminded him.  
“It is October and you know your timetable that well?” Albus raised his eyebrows. “When we had a fucked up timetable for about a month?”  
“I had it over summer,” Scorpius shrugged awkwardly. “I didn’t have anything else to do. There’s only so many times I can write to you and it still be deemed socially acceptable.”

Albus laughed, attempting to wrap an arm around Scorpius’ shoulders. He was not tall enough, however, and Scorpius wrapped his arm around Albus’ shoulders instead. “I hate being short,” Albus muttered.  
“It’s a great couple trope.”  
“Are we a couple?”  
“I don’t know,” Scorpius blurted. “Maybe. I don’t mind. What do you want? It’s okay if you don’t want it or if you do or–”  
“Scorp,” Albus laughed. “Breathe.  
“Sorry.” “Do you want to be a couple?” Albus asked. “Don’t worry about me. Answer the question for you.”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded awkwardly. “But only if you want to. I don’t want to force you. I mean–”  
“I would love to,” Albus smiled.  
“Thank you,” Scorpius whispered. “We should go to potions.”  
“Yeah.”

They went to potions, arriving in the middle of the lesson. Between that, and the fact that they spent most of the lesson holding hands, they received quite a few stares from their classmates. Scorpius didn’t pay them any attention, so Albus was determined not to either, smiling through the fumes of the potion that they managed to create with surprising success.

And afterwards, when they made their way back to the Common Room (it had been the last lesson of the day), Albus found himself smiling. Scorpius hadn’t smiled a huge amount, but Albus understood that there were things he hadn’t said about Voldemort’s world. Lots of things.

He stopped short as they walked around the corner to the entrance of the Common room and saw his dad standing by the wall, apparently waiting. He didn’t smile at Albus, and Albus was glad, because he wasn’t in the mood to return a happy sentiment. He hadn’t forgotten anything.  
“What do you want?” Albus muttered, letting go of Scorpius’ hand quickly.  
“I wanted to talk to you,” dad said quietly. “Is that okay?”  
“Do I have an option?”  
“Yes.”

Albus knew that wasn’t exactly true, but he didn’t object, muttering something about meeting him in the dormitory in a few minutes. It was going to go wrong. It was all going to go entirely wrong. But he knew that they had to try. Trying was how things got better.

Which was why, as soon as they were alone, he murmured a quick ‘see you later’ to Scorpius, kissing him on the cheek again, and then walked up to the dormitory.

His dad appeared a few minutes later, once he was sat on the bed, staring upwards at the ceiling. Albus could tell, almost immediately, that his anger had been simmering for far too long.  
“Thanks,” dad said quietly, “for letting me coming up.”

Silence.

“No luck,” he continued, “as yet, with the Time-Turner searching. They’re currently negotiating with the Merpeople to dredge the lake.”

More silence.

“This is a – nice room.” “Green is a soothing colour, isn’t it?” Albus muttered, somewhat bitter; he stood up. “I mean Gryffindor rooms are all well and good, but the trouble with red is – it is said to send you a little mad.” He paused quickly. “Not that I’m casting aspersions.” He tried not to spit the words.  
“Can you explain – why – you tried to do this?”  
“I thought I could – _change _things,” Albus said quickly. “I – I thought Cedric – it’s unfair.”  
“Yeah,” dad nodded angrily. “Of course it’s unfair, Albus. Don’t you think I know that? I was _there_.” And suddenly he was shouting. “I saw him die! But to do this – to risk all this…”  
“I know,” Albus muttered.  
“If you were trying to do as I did, you went the wrong way about it!” dad’s anger continued. “See, I didn’t volunteer for adventure, I was forced into it. You did something _really reckless_ – really seriously stupid – almost _destroyed everything_–”  
“I know,” Albus interrupted quietly. “Okay. I know.”

He didn’t know how to say anything else, trying to ignore the tear trickling down his cheek. He wanted to run away, run away and find Scorpius. He needed Scorpius. But he couldn’t go anywhere.  
“Well, I was wrong too,” dad said. “To think Scorpius was Voldemort’s son. He’s not a black cloud.”  
“No.”  
“And I’ve locked away the map. You won’t see that again,” he turned away and then started walking towards him again. “You know your mum kept your room exactly as it was when you ran away? Yeah. You know? Wouldn’t let me in. Wouldn’t let anybody in.”

Silence.

“You really scared her. And me.”  
“Oh – oh I really scared you–”  
“Yes!” dad screamed.  
“I thought Harry Potter wasn’t afraid of anything,” Albus spat.  
“Is that how I make you feel?”

The words were softer, but the anger was still only too obvious. Albus stayed staring at him. Because he didn’t know what else he could do to make it end.  
“I don’t think Scorpius said,” Albus continued, trying not to get too angry immediately, “but when we returned after failing to fix the First Task, I was suddenly in Gryffindor house and nothing was better between us then either.” A pause. “So, the fact that I’m in Slytherin – that’s not the reason for our problems. Okay, it’s not just about that.”  
“I know it’s not just about that,” dad turned around again, walking towards him. “Are you okay, Albus?”  
“No.”  
“No. Nor me.”

As soon as Albus was sure that his dad was finished, he half-stumbled out the dormitory, searching frantically for Scorpius. Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks, blurring his vision so that he couldn’t see. And in the darkened room, Albus couldn’t recognise Scorpius from his mop of violently blond hair.  
“Scorp…” his voice cracked. “Scorp…”

He stumbled back a few steps, jumping forward as two arms snaked around him, catching him gently.  
“Albus,” Scorpius said softly, “what’s going on? Are you okay?”  
“Dad…” Albus let his tears flow. “Dad…”  
“Okay,” Scorpius murmured, “okay. Come on. Let’s find somewhere to sit.”

He followed Scorpius towards an empty corner near the fireplace, and curled up silently as they sat down. Scorpius wrapped his arms around him gently, leaning his head on his shoulder.  
“I love you,” he whispered.  
“I love you too,” Albus mumbled. “How long?”  
“How long have I loved you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I don’t know,” Scorpius murmured. “I knew when I saw you come out of the lake, but I suppose I could have felt – like this – before. And just not realised. I don’t really know.”  
“I lost you,” Albus said quietly. “Before. When I was in – Gryffindor. I – when you weren’t there.”  
“I know.”  
“I’m sorry. For what I said before. In the library. I just…I hate myself for what I said. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Scorpius said. “It’s okay, Albie. You…me…we were all messed up. It was all wrong. We’ll be okay.”  
“Albie?”  
“I want to give you a cute nickname,” Scorpius grinned, reaching around Albus to boop him on the nose.

Albus laughed, shuffling around slightly so that the two of them were lying on the floor and he had his head lain across Scorpius’ chest. He was warm and cosy, and had apparently showered while Albus had been talking to his dad, because he smelt a bit like cocoanut. Cocoanut and vanilla. It certainly smelt better than the lake.

* * *

Scorpius smiled as the two of them fell asleep that night. Albus was wrapped in his arms, smiling as he dozed off, and Scorpius could smile at that. He hadn’t thought that, after seeing into the atrocity of that world, after almost participating in the atrocity of that world, that he would even be able to look at himself.

But he could. Because the most important person in his life still loved him, even though he would have a very good idea of what Scorpius had been involved. Even though his imagination would fill in the major blanks that Scorpius had left, Albus still loved him.

It did not mean, however, that he was going to be able to sleep. The images of that world were still horrifically fresh in his mind and he wasn’t sure whether or not he was surprised at what he considered to be the worst part of it.

It hadn’t been the times he had come close to having to torture innocent people. It hadn’t been the moments where he had first arrived to discover exactly how horrific it all was. It hadn’t even been the moment where he had realised that Albus was gone, well and truly gone.

It had been the moment where he had been summoned to the ministry, terrified that they were going to kill him, only to see his father at the desk. The moment where he had thought that, maybe, just maybe, he could let his guard down for a few minutes. The moment where he had thought that his father might not be completely different.

So, he had let his guard down. And it had gotten him hurt beyond healing in so many ways, beyond the fading bruises on the back of his neck. He couldn’t trust his father anymore. It didn’t seem to matter that logic told him that they were two different people. It didn’t seem to matter that it would never happen again. It only seemed to matter that it had happened and now he was too scared to let himself drift off to sleep.

And there was still, of course, the Time-Turner that Scorpius had hidden near the bottom of his trunk, wrapped in scarfs and spare socks. He was fairly confident that no one would look in there. No one would believe that he had been lying, that he could even tell a lie, and that gave him time to destroy it. Properly.

The next morning, Scorpius was exhausted, having barely slept more than about an hour in between dozing off and keeping himself up through fear. Albus sat up, brushing Scorpius’ hair from his face, at which point Scorpius broke into a smile, wrapping his arms around Albus again.  
“You look awful,” Albus murmured. “Did you sleep?”  
“A bit.”  
“How much is ‘a bit’?”  
“Not very much.”

Albus smiled sadly and Scorpius shrugged, sitting up. It didn’t matter. It was a new day and they had to actually do something.  
“I’ll be fine,” he said quickly.

And he was. He survived the day, however quiet and scared he was throughout. He survived. That night, he was lying awake in bed – the two of them had made it to the dormitory this time – and then he sat up, looking at Albus.  
“Albie,” he whispered. “Albie.”

There was no response, so he stood up, creeping closer to Albus’ bed. He leaned over the top of the headboard.  
“Albus!”

Albus jumped up, yelling out in shock. Scorpius tumbled away, laughing as he landed back on his bed.  
“Pleasant,” Albus muttered. “That’s a pleasant and not scary way to wake up.”  
“You know, it’s the strangest thing,” he crossed his legs and looked at Albus, “but ever since being in pretty much the scariest place imaginable, I am good with fear. I am,” he grinned, “Scorpius the Dreadless. Malfoy the Unanxious. I mean, normally, being in lockdown, in constant detention, it’d break me. But now – what’s the worst they can do? Bring back _Mouldy Voldy _and have him torture me? Nope.”  
“You’re scary when you’re in a good mood,” Albus smiled fondly.

Scorpius smiled back. What he had said wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t want Albus to worry about him. It wasn’t worth it. When he was ready, he’d talk to his dad about what had happened, and until then he was more than happy pretending he was okay.

Because, mainly, he was. He had Albus, and Albus loved him. Albus cared about him enough, knew him well enough, to know that simply saying the words would make him panic and that he needed a little more ‘official’ confirmation. And Albus had kissed him.

Albus cared about, loved, him enough to kiss him after he had randomly announced, after returning from an evil alternate reality, that he was in love.  
“When Rose came up to me in potions earlier,” he said, “and called me ‘Bread Head’, I almost hugged her. I don’t really know why.”  
“No. You tried to hug her. I was there. Her shin-kicking has improved somewhat.”  
“I know,” Scorpius rubbed his leg slightly, giggling.  
“I’m not sure being fearless is going to be good for your health,” Albus smiled softly.

Scorpius took a deep breath. He was going to dive in. Being honest, at least somewhat, was the right decision.  
“You don’t know how good it is to be back here, Albie,” he murmured. “I hated it there.”  
“People didn’t bully you.”  
“People didn’t bully me because I bullied them. People were frightened of me. That’s worse.”  
“But you changed things,” Albus pointed out. “You had a chance and you changed time back. Changed yourself back.”  
“Only because I knew what I should be.”

And because he’d needed Albus. Because he’d known that he couldn’t lose Albus, couldn’t survive without Albus.  
“Why was I so determined to do this?” Albus muttered. “Cedric? Really? No. I had something to prove. Dad’s right – this is all my fault–”  
“Albus,” Scorpius said firmly, standing up and walking over to Albus’ bed. “It’s okay. Your dad needs to lay off for a bit and admit that he is also in the wrong. He shouldn’t have shouted at you.”  
“How did you know he shouted?” Albus asked quickly, taking Scorpius’ hand and pulling him to sit next to him.  
“You just – you had that look – in your eyes,” Scorpius said quietly. “You looked – closed off.”  
“Do I always look like that?”  
“You looked scared,” Scorpius murmured, putting arm around Albus. “And I can tell.”  
“I know,” Albus leant his head on Scorpius’ shoulder.  
“I missed you,” Scorpius whispered. “Every single night I was there, I told myself it would be okay. If I could get back to you.”  
“And you only worked out that you liked me when you saw me again?” Albus raised an eyebrow.  
“I don’t know,” Scorpius mumbled awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I don’t really know. I’m–”  
“Hey,” Albus interrupted softly. “Take a breath. I’m teasing.”

Scorpius smiled sheepishly. Albus smiled back at him, planting a soft kiss on the tip of his nose. Scorpius giggled, lying back on the bed and staring upwards.  
“I just want to make sure,” he said slowly, “you do know that we can’t – you know – try again. You do know that, don’t you?”  
“I do know that,” Albus nodded.  
“Good,” Scorpius stood up.

He walked to his trunk, opening it as he knelt down. He pulled the large bundle of scarfs and socks out and carried it back to the bed, all under Albus’ confused.  
“Good,” he said again. “You can help me destroy this.”

He lifted the bundle of scarfs and socks out onto the bed, and then unwrapped them to reveal the Time-Turner in the centre. Albus’ eyes widened and he stared at Scorpius, who smiled.  
“I’m pretty sure you told everyone that was on the bottom of a lake,” Albus said quickly.  
“Turns out Malfoy the Unanxious is a pretty good liar!” Scorpius sang, giggling.

Albus raised his eyebrows and pulled the hangings closed again, shaking his head. Scorpius smiled at him, wrapping his arms around Albus. “  
Scorpius,” Albus attempted to keep his tone serious, “we should tell someone about this..”  
“Who?” Scorpius asked firmly. “The Ministry kept it before. Do you really trust them not to keep it again?” He shivered slightly at the thought and Albus reached up to place a gentle hand on his cheek. “Only you and I have seen how dangerous this is,” he continued. “That means you and I have to destroy it. No one can do what we did, Albus. No – no one. No. It’s time that time-turning became a thing of the past.”

He said the last bit with an air of grandeur that did not suit him and, upon realising this, he looked sheepishly at the floor.  
“You’re quite proud of that phrase, aren’t you?” Albus smiled.  
“I’ve been working on it all day,” Scorpius admitted.  
“I love you,” Albus whispered, turning and kissing him softly.

Scorpius kissed him back, leaning into him as they lay back on the bed, still wrapped in each other’s arms.  
“Hey,” Scorpius whispered. “Hey, Albie. We still haven’t decided what we’re going to do with the Time-Turner. We should probably work that one out.”  
“Can’t I just kiss you?” Albus pouted. “I mean, we’ve got a lot to catch up on after that – that month.”

Scorpius nodded, trying not to let a silence fall between them at the memory. It hadn’t been either of their faults. It was over now. It was something they needed to move past.  
“Sorry,” Albus mumbled.  
“No, it’s fine,” Scorpius said quickly. “Sorry for – sort of shutting down. But yeah, we do need to work out what we’re going to do with it.”  
“We destroy it.”  
“How? When? Do we tell anyone?”  
“They’ll be some spells,” Albus murmured. “We could look them up tomorrow. In terms of when, whenever we’re ready.”  
Scorpius nodded. “Do we tell anyone?”  
“Should we tell Delphi?”

Scorpius faltered slightly at that. While he was aware that Albus didn’t actually have a crush on Delphi, and that wouldn’t even matter now, he was still slightly uneasy. There was something about her that scared him slightly. Maybe it was simply because she seemed to be constantly bubbly and happy and he found that strange. Maybe it was simply because he was not used to people around him being really happy. That was probably it.  
“Scor?”  
“I don’t know,” Scorpius said quickly. “She just – she makes me a bit uneasy. I don’t really know why. She just – does.”  
“She is quite intense,” Albus admitted. “I didn’t realise she made you that uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”  
“You didn’t know,” Scorpius shrugged, tucking a spare piece of hair behind Albus’ ear, “but thank you.”  
“We don’t have to tell her.”  
“He’s her cousin. She probably deserves to know. And we can’t just leave Amos hanging on like that.” Albus nodded. “We can write to her once we’ve worked out what spell we’re going to use.”

Scorpius nodded back and Albus yawned. Scorpius smiled, sitting up to rewrap the Time-Turner and place it back in his trunk. He shut his trunk before sitting back on his bed, watching Albus. Albus smiled at him, standing up and sitting next to him. Scorpius smiled as Albus wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on his shoulder.  
“Can I stay here?” he mumbled.  
“Um…”  
“Please,” Albus sounded as if he were pouting.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius smiled, lying down and taking Albus with him.

Albus wrapped his arms around him as he pulled the duvet over both of them. He laid his head on Albus’ shoulder, taking a slow breath.  
“I missed you,” he whispered. “I missed you so much.”  
“Shhh,” Albus murmured. “Get some sleep. You need it.”

Scorpius nodded, finally allowing himself to drift off without fear or worry. They were going to be okay. They were going to be entirely okay.

* * *

After that, the days returned to some sort of routine. When Albus had a spare moment between detention and schoolwork (most of which he now just did in detention after teachers had run out of things to make him do), he tried to spend it in the library, researching the best way to destroy a Time-Turner.

Of course, he had to be inconspicuous as to not draw suspicion, but that just gave him further excuses to spend time with Scorpius, if he even needed an actual excuse to do that. He would gladly spend every waking moment with his boyfriend, if only he were actually permitted to.

He had to admit, he had been a little nervous when Scorpius had first blurted out that he loved him, but it hadn’t necessarily been a bad nervous. He had felt nervous, between the slightly sweaty palms and the butterflies in his stomach, but that had disappeared the minute he had tried to talk to Scorpius about it.

Kissing him felt, for want of a better word, right. It felt like something small he had been missing, that he had never really known about. And it shut down, almost immediately, the little niggling doubt that he’d had that wanted him to think it was just the need to feel like someone actually cared about him.

Because the moment that Scorpius had mentioned about feeling uneasy around Delphi, Albus had seen it, understood it. And, while it was probably nothing, when they did destroy the Time-Turner, he was determined to make sure that Scorpius was okay, as a priority.

A few days after their decision to destroy the Time-Turner, Albus woke up in the middle of the night, sitting up sharply. His mouth was hot and dry so, keeping his eyes closed as best he could to prevent himself waking up properly, he made his way to the jug of water near the door and poured a little into a glass, downing it.

Then, he looked back at the bed, opening his eyes a little now. The hangings around Scorpius’ bed were open and Albus made his way over, frowning. Scorpius had taken to sleeping with the hangings completely shut as, according to him, in the other world, the beds had been open.

But now his hangings were open, and he was gone.

Albus tried to take a deep breath and not let himself panic. It would be fine. Scorpius would just be in the bathroom. It wasn’t worth getting worked up over. He sat down again, watching Scorpius’ bed, waiting for him to come back, if only so that he could satisfy himself, give his boyfriend a hug, and then go back to sleep.

But when Scorpius hadn’t come back ten minutes later, Albus stood up again, hurrying out of the room. He looked into the bathrooms, now unsurprised that they were empty, and then carried on to the Common Room.

There was a single light on, illuminating Scorpius, who was curled on the floor in front of the fireplace. Albus hurried over, stopping as he saw that there was a canvas and an assortment of paints in front of him.  
“Scor?”  
“Albie,” Scorpius looked up quickly. “Are you okay?”  
“Yeah,” Albus nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are – are you?”  
“I got – I was having a bad night,” Scorpius mumbled. “I got these a little while ago and I thought it might help to – you know – get it out.”  
“Do you mind if I stay?”  
“Go ahead,” Scorpius turned back to the canvas, picking up another paintbrush.

Albus sat down next to him, looking carefully at the canvas. It was reasonably abstract in style, but he could see that it was meant to resemble, in at least some form, a dementor.  
“It’s really good,” he murmured, leaning his head on Scorpius’ left shoulder, trying not to disrupt his movement.  
“It’s easier than thinking about it.”  
“Do you want to talk about it?”  
“I just – I need to get it out. Somehow.”

Scorpius sighed, putting the paintbrush down, and Albus wrapped his arms around him properly, kissing him on the cheek.  
“I’m here,” he murmured, “if you need me.”

Scorpius nodded and they were silent for a few minutes, during which Scorpius picked up the paintbrush and continued to add shape and colour to the dementor forming in front of him. And then he stopped again, taking a shaky breath.  
“People describe it strangely,” he said quietly. “Dementors.”  
“Scor?”  
“It was just – it was numb. I just felt numb. And I could hear mum. I was supposed to be scared. It was just – nothingness.”  
“It’s gone,” Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius again. “I promise, it’s gone now.”  
“If – if I had been alone – I think I would have just…stopped fighting. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.”  
“But you didn’t. You fought and you won and we’re okay because of it.”  
“My mum was screaming,” Scorpius’ voice cracks. “And all I could do was just – just stand. I don’t know whether I cared.”  
“Of course you cared,” Albus said firmly. “You love her so much. There is no way that any monster could take that away.”

Scorpius nodded, but Albus could tell that his heart wasn’t really it. He moved to sit so that he was facing Scorpius, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear.  
“Look at me,” he murmured. “You are human. You are a human so beautiful and full of love that it’s difficult to believe sometimes. Your smiles make you look like the sun. Your laugh is indescribable. And you are the kindest, smartest, most-loving person I’ve ever met. If you couldn’t find the strength to care about something like that, that means nothing about you. That means everything about the thing you were facing. And the fact that you survived that, and you’re still fighting? That’s beyond phenomenal.”  
“You think?”  
“I know.”

Scorpius tried to offer him a small smile, and Albus pulled him into a tight hug, running his hands through his hair.  
“I love you,” he whispered.  
“I love you too,” Albus smiled. “And I’m here, as long as you need me.”  
“Longer?”  
“Do you think I could keep myself away?”

Scorpius cracked a small smile, biting his lip. Albus ran his hands under Scorpius’ chin, trying to stop him before he chewed a hole in his lip. It was something he might be likely to do.  
“We need to get rid of that – that thing,” Scorpius muttered. “Soon.”  
“Tomorrow night,” I say firmly. “I’ll owl Delphi in the morning. If she turns up, cool. If she doesn’t, we won’t wait.”  
“Where?”  
“Owlery?”  
“Spell?”  
“Let’s stay with Stupefy. We can’t mess that one up too much.”

Scorpius nodded, smiling.

* * *

The next evening, Scorpius and Albus wondered up to the Owlery before curfew. The Time-Turner was tucked inside Scorpius’ robe pocket, still cushioned in the centre of the mass of socks. Albus had convinced him to leave the scarves. They would draw attention.

They had not received a reply from Delphi, and Scorpius almost hoped that she wasn’t going to turn up. His feeling of uneasiness about her had only grown the more that he had thought about it and, while he was aware that it was probably irrational, he still felt that the whole thing would be easier if she didn’t come.

He shook himself. Ten minutes, at most. That was it. And then he never had to see her again. Then he and Albus were safe and it was all over.  
“You okay?” Albus wove his fingers through Scorpius’.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Nervous.”  
“It’ll be fine,” Albus promised. “If she’s making you uncomfortable, just say and we can just do it and leave.”  
“Thanks,” Scorpius said quietly, aware that his voice was echoing up the tower and Delphi might already be at the top of the tower.

She was, grinning cheerfully as they walked into the main room, stepping over various piles of mouse and rodent bones to reach her.  
“Hi, Albus,” she said. “How are you guys?”  
“We’re okay,” Albus nodded. “Yeah, we’re – we’re okay.”

Scorpius didn’t say anything, looking at the floor awkwardly, and Albus squeezed his hand gently.  
“You said there was something ‘concerning me’,” Delphi lent back on the wall. “What _concerns _me? What’s this about?”  
“We need to – destroy the Time-Turner,” Albus murmured. “The things Scorpius saw after the second task…I’m so sorry. We can’t risk going back again. We can’t save your cousin.”  
“Your owl said so little…”  
“Imagine the – worst possible world. And then double it,” Albus supplied as he saw Scorpius’ discomfort at the question. “People were being – hurt. Dementors everywhere. A despotic Voldemort. My dad was dead so I – I didn’t exist. The whole world was surrounded by Dark Magic. We just – we can’t allow that to happen.”  
“Voldemort ruled?” Delphi frowned. “He was – alive?”  
“He ruled everything,” Scorpius muttered. “It was – it was terrible.”  
“Because of what we did?”  
“Humiliating Cedric turned him into a very – angry – young man,” Scorpius explained quietly. “And then he became bitter. And then he became a Death Eater.”  
“A Death Eater?”  
“And a murderer. He killed Professor Longbottom.”

There was a short silence and then Delphi’s eyes widened and she nodded.

“Nagini. Of course,” she said. “Then yeah, we need to destroy it.”  
“You understand?” Albus frowned.  
“I’ll go further than that,” Delphi said decisively. “I’d say Cedric would have understood. We’ll – destroy it together. And then go to my uncle. Explain the – situation.”  
“Thank you.”

Delphi held out her hand and Scorpius took the Time-Turner out of his pocket slowly, unwrapping it. He did not, however, hand it to Delphi.  
“I’ll hold it,” he muttered. “Albus do you want to…”

He broke off as Delphi turned away and crouched down to take something out of her bag. She had no jacket on, despite the cold, and his blood ran cold at the marks on her back. Albus opened his mouth to speak but Scorpius stopped him, tugging his sleeve.

Albus looked at him, concerned, and he glanced pointedly at Delphi. Albus nodded and took Scorpius’ hand again, stepping in front of him.  
“Nice mark,” he said slowly. “Is that – is that what the Muggles call a tattoo?”  
“Yes,” Delphi smiled, turning around again. “Well, yes. It’s an Augurey.”

Scorpius froze properly, pulling Albus back as quickly as he could. Albus looked at him, frowning slightly, and he continued to move back. “She – they – that world…” he whispered, starting to shake in fear.

Delphi turned back to them, still smiling and she pocketed her wand. She hadn’t actually appeared to have retrieved anything from her bag and Scorpius could no longer ignore, in any capacity, the multitude of alarm bells in his head.  
“Haven’t you met them in Care of Magical Creatures?” Delphi frowned at both of them. “They’re sinister-looking black birds that cry when rains coming. When I was growing up, my guardian kept one in a cage.”  
“Your guardian?” Scorpius tried not to let his voice waver. “She used to say it was crying because it could see I was going to come to a sticky end,” she shrugged, smiling. “She didn’t like me very much. Euphemia Rowle. Only took me in for the gold.”  
“Albus,” Scorpius muttered. “Albus. Run.”  
“Scorpius?” Delphi frowned at him. “Scorpius, what are you talking about?”  
“I don’t believe you ever were ill,” Scorpius said slowly. “Why didn’t you go to Hogwarts? Why are you here – now?”  
“I’m trying to bring my cousin back,” Delphi snapped, darting forward and grabbing the Time-Turner from Scorpius’ sweaty palms.  
“Give it back,” Albus said sharply.  
“I’m being reasonable,” Delphi rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t want to get in trouble because he’s scared. We can still get this right, Albus.”

She raised her wand and Scorpius was about to shove Albus towards the door. If one of them got away, it had to be him. If Scorpius was not there if the Dark World was resurrected, then there was no chance of stopping it.

But Scorpius did not get the chance to let Albus escape, because Albus shoved him back towards the stairs before running at Delphi and attempting to tackle her. “RUN!” he screamed.

And Scorpius did. He couldn’t fight alone. So he had to run.

* * *

Albus was well aware that attempting to rugby-tackle Delphi would not result in anything good. Apart from Scorpius’ escape. It resulted in that. That was something.

Delphi cried out in frustration, throwing him off and letting him slide across the floor until he was stopped by the wall. Then she walked towards him as he waited for his vision to stop spinning, waving her wand.

Thick, burning ropes appeared around his wrists, and he did everything he could to avoid crying out with the pain. Scorpius had to get away. Scorpius had to find help. Scorpius couldn’t come back to save him.

Delphi crouched down, scowling as she grabbed his jacket collar and pulled him to his feet. Then she smirked.  
“And that is the first spell I’ve had to use on you,” she giggled. “You’re fair easier to control than Amos. Children,” Albus fought the urge to scream as the ropes burned into flesh, “particularly male children, are so naturally pliant, aren’t they?”

Albus stared at her distastefully as she pushed him back, laughing as he crashed back to the floor, his head still spinning violently. He tried to pull himself up again, tried to fight back, but he felt as if he were going to vomit.  
“Who are you?” he spat. “Why…”  
“Oh Albus,” Delphi smiled softly, forcing him back to his feet. “I am the new past.”

She took his wand from his pocket.

“I am the new future.”

She snapped it.

“I am the answer that this world has been looking for.”

This time, when the ropes burnt into his skin, Albus couldn’t stop himself and his screams rang out through the tower as Delphi forced him to walk through the door. She put a hand on his shoulder, leaning over his shoulder as he walked. He tried to shrug her off and she giggled, pushing him forward.  
“Keep moving,” she whispered.  
“Why?” Albus snapped.

He stumbled as the ropes pulled him forward again, nearly causing him to trip and fall down the Owlery stairs. Delphi laughed again and Albus kept his mouth shut. He could start trying to piss her off again once his life wasn’t in the balance.

They kept walking, somehow not being seen by anyone else in the school, though Albus could have sworn that people walked past them on multiple occasions. He did not say anything, keeping his mouth shut as they trudged over the grounds, apparently towards the Quidditch Pitch.

His mind attempted to work out why that was the destination, and he ended up at the conclusion that it was something to do with the Third Task. Cedric and the Third Task. The moment that he arrived at that conclusion was the moment that he was aware that he was, to put it bluntly, completely fucking screwed.

Delphi shoved him forward as they entered the pitch and he stumbled, landing on the floor. She looked at him, smirking, and he narrowed his eyes.  
“Piss off,” he muttered.  
“What was that?” Delphi grabbed his collar and pulled him up.  
“Piss. Off.”

He flinched as she threw him backwards and he hit the floor again, picking himself up immediately. He couldn’t let his guard down. Not now.  
“It is time,” Delphi sneered, “to spare the spare once and for all. We will go back for Cedric, and in doing so, we will resurrect the world that your dear boyfriend saw.”  
“What the hell,” Albus stared at her. “You want to resurrect hell?”  
“I want to return to pure and strong magic!” Delphi snarled. “I want to rebirth the dark!”  
“Why? Why do you–”  
“Voldemort is the one true ruler of the wizarding world!” she shrieked. “He will return. Now, you have ensured that the first two tasks are a little – clogged up – with magic. There are at least two visits from the future in both of them? Well, I will not risk being revealed or distracted. The Third Task is clean, so let’s _start _there. Shall we?”  
“I won’t stop him,” I snap. “Whatever you try to force me to–”  
“No, no, no, no,” Delphi smirked, walking toward him. “I don’t just want you to stop him. I want you to _humiliate_ him. Humiliation got you there before, and it will get us there again.”

A pause.

“Your dear boyfriend has seen the world as it _should be_. And today we are going to ensure its return.”  
“I won’t!” Albus shouted at her. “I won’t obey you. Whatever you want me to do.”  
“Really?” Delphi grinned, playing with her wand. “I think I can change that.”

Albus continued to stare at her defiantly, and then he collapsed to his knees, howling in pain as some curse crashed over him, ripping him to pieces, driving knives through his skin. He wanted to scream at her, beg her to just stop it, but he knew that he couldn’t. He couldn’t give in when so many lives were at stake.

So he just screamed, praying that it would stop eventually, pleading with his mind to just let it stop, to let him black out so that it would be over. But he didn’t, and when Delphi ended it, cackling madly, he curled up on the floor, sobbing.

She stalked towards him, leaning over his figure and grabbing his jacket. He cried out, staring up at her as she laughed again, kicking him down.  
“Albus Potter,” she sneered. “Pathetic, useless Albus Potter.”  
“I won’t,” Albus ground out. “I…I won’t – won’t obey you…can’t make…you can’t make me…”  
“Really?” Delphi smiled. “I was almost hoping you’d say that.”

Albus screamed again as she snarled the curse again, cackling as Albus writhed and howled at her feet. This time, he pleaded for her to stop, screaming and shouting at her to just end it. To kill him. Or stop it. He didn’t get so far as to say that he would obey. But even avoiding that was a fight.

When she stopped away, he could barely lift his head to see her. Not until she seized his shirt and forced him to his feet, turning him around to snarl in his ear.  
“You will obey me. Because I tell you to. And I can make this so, so much worse.”  
“No,” Albus squirmed away from her. “No. I won’t. I…can’t…”

Delphi yelled out in frustration, throwing Albus at the floor again. Compared to the pain he had felt, moments previously, it was nothing, and he just stared back.  
“No.”  
“Listen to me,” Delphi crouched next to him, jabbing her wand into his neck. “Since that doesn’t seem to convince you, how about a deal?”  
“Why do I get the feeling you’re not going to offer me anything that I want?”  
“You obey me,” Delphi said slowly, her expression changing to one of anger, “you obey me, or I will modify your memory.”

Albus stopped short at that.

“Please,” he whispered. “Please, don’t.”  
“It’s reasonably simple,” Delphi smiled. “If you don’t want me to do that, you need to obey me.”

Albus forced himself to take a deep breath, closing his eyes. He needed to think. He needed to think what was best, not for him, but for the entire world.

What was best was obvious, without even thinking. Refusing to obey meant that the world would survive. But it also meant that he would lose Scorpius. Scorpius would lose him, which was arguably worse, and he couldn’t subject Scorpius to that loss. He couldn’t subject Scorpius to losing one of the most important people in his life.

And yet, thinking about it, he had to. Because if he obeyed, if he set time differently again, Scorpius would not only be alone, he would not be aware that he needed to reset the world. So the world would be stuck for eternity.

Although, Scorpius wouldn’t know that anything was wrong. The world would, ultimately, be utterly horrific, and nobody would be happy, but Scorpius wouldn’t be in pain. Or no more pain than he was already in.

But there was the rest of the world to contend with. There was the rest of humanity at stake.

His memories, his life, for the rest of the world. It wasn’t a huge price to pay for anyone apart from him. And Scorpius. He was going to destroy Scorpius.

He opened his eyes.

“I won’t obey you,” he didn’t let his voice crack. “I won’t help you.”  
“Is that your answer?”  
“Yes.”

Delphi stood up, raising her wand. Albus kept his eyes open this time, swallowing nervously. Maybe, if he concentrated, maybe if he fought hard enough, he wouldn’t lose everything.

His name was Albus Potter.

He was in love with Scorpius Malfoy.

And he was doing this to protect the world.

His name was Albus Potter. He was in love with Scorpius Malfoy. He was doing this to protect the world. His name was Albus Potter. He was in love with Scorpius Malfoy. He was doing this to protect the world. His name was Albus Potter. He was in love with Scorpius Malfoy. He was doing this to protect the world. His name was Albus–

“Obliviate.”


	2. After

Scorpius sprinted down the corridor that led to Professor McGonagall’s office, ignoring every shout that followed him, scolding him for being out after curfew. Albus was in danger, facing a madwoman who had effectively kidnapped him. Albus was still in danger because he’d sacrificed himself for Scorpius, and Scorpius had to use that. He had to save Albus.

He skidded to a halt by the gargoyle and, by some miracle, it was turning. He made to get on, but Professor McGonagall appeared first, stopping short as she saw Scorpius, panting and scared, in front of her.  
“Mr. Malfoy. It’s past curfew and you are already–”  
“Albus,” Scorpius panted, “…danger…need your help…please…”  
“What are you talking about, Mr. Malfoy?”  
“She – she’s got Albus. We were on the Owlery. Please, Professor. You need to help me. Please!”  
“Stop,” Professor McGonagall said calmly, “and explain what is going on.”  
“We went to destroy the Time-Turner and she came with us and she’s got Albus and I don’t know what she’s going to do and–”  
“Okay,” Professor McGonagall interrupted. “Where are they?”  
“They were in the Owlery, but she’ll have moved. I’m not sure…”

And then it hit him.

“The lake,” he blurted. “They’ll be by the lake.”

He broke into a run again, sprinting along corridor after corridor, trusting that Professor McGonagall was following. Of course they were there. Delphi wanted the Time-Turner. Delphi wanted to resurrect hell. Of course they’d be there.

He needed to move faster, though he was well aware that he couldn’t actually run any faster than he was already. Actually, that wasn’t true. He had been moving faster, but now his legs were burning and he was struggling to draw enough breath to keep running. But he had to. He had to get to Albus before she hurt him.

She was going to hurt him, wasn’t she? Because Albus wouldn’t do what she wanted, either because it was evil, or because he was so damn stubborn that he would disobey Delphi, simply because she had scared Scorpius.

Despite himself, Scorpius felt a small urge to smile. He loved Albus so much and spent every single moment thanking Merlin that Albus felt the same way about him. Albus was like a light in a tunnel that he knew he was never going to get out of. But he was a light, not at the end, but with him, walking him down the tunnel even though he was well aware that it was longer than either of them would ever really know.

As he reached the Entrance Hall, he pulled his wand out, unlocking the front doors and running out into the grounds. Professor McGonagall was still following him, no longer questioning him as he broke into a flat-out sprint again, heading to the lake.

He couldn’t see Albus or Delphi, but they had to be there. They had to be there somewhere. Where else would they be? What else would Delphi be planning that needed to Time-Turner? Unless the Augurey was just a coincidence and there was something else. But what would it be?  
“Albus!” he shouted. “Albus, where are you?”

Silence.

“ALBUS!”

Tears were starting to stream down his face and he wiped them away; he had to keep looking. He had to find Albus. Albus would be here somewhere, somewhere, he just had to keep searching. He just had to keep searching.   
“Scorpius,” Professor McGonagall put a hand on his shoulder gently. “Stop.”  
“I need to find him–”  
“Listen.”

Scorpius did, letting the silence wash over him as he listened out. At first it was just that, just silence, and then something drifted towards him. Shouts. Screams. Emanating from somewhere in the grounds.  
“Shit,” he whispered. “Oh, shit. Albus?”

He didn’t wait for an answer to his shouts, breaking into a sprint again as he tried to place where the sound was coming from. It seemed like it was coming from everywhere, surrounding him, digging into his mind and ripping it apart.

Albus was in pain. He had to find Albus. He had to save Albus.

As he ran towards the Quidditch Pitch, the sound seemed to get louder, more intense, and Scorpius felt his stomach lurch as he reached the Pitch entrance. The screaming had stopped, but he could hear voices. Angry voices. And a scared voice.

He ran out onto the Pitch, screaming at Delphi to stop. She was standing over Albus, who wasn’t cowering, but was staring up at her defiantly. She turned around and smirked at Scorpius, raising her wand.  
“You thought coming back was a good idea?”   
“Let him go!” Scorpius bellowed. “You’re insane! Let him go!”  
“I’m still working,” Delphi smiled. “And if you’re in my way, well then, you’ll just have to be dealt with.”

Scorpius broke into a run again, attempting to dive between her and Albus, but he didn’t make it, being dragged backwards by some invisible force. Delphi walked towards him as he landed on the grass, treading on his wrist as he started to stand up.

Scorpius glanced at Albus to find that he was not even looking at what was going on, instead staring at something Scorpius couldn’t see. Scorpius didn’t care, staring back up at Delphi as she crouched down, grinning at him.  
“Well, well, well,” she sneered. “Scorpius Malfoy. I didn’t think you’d come back to fight me.”  
“What do you want?” Scorpius tried to draw breath. “What–”  
“Get away from him!” Professor McGonagall’s voice thundered through the stadium.

Delphi and Scorpius both looked up as Professor McGonagall almost ran towards them, her wand drawn. She looked angrier than Scorpius had ever seen and he was almost unable to move as she swooped down upon Delphi, forcing her away from Scorpius. He scrambled back to his feet as the pair started to duel.

Professor McGonagall was formidable as she threw curse after curse after curse at Delphi, who rose up into the air, blocking the curses. It was all she could do, apparently, as the torrent of spells was too intense for her to try anything else.

The Time-Turner tumbled out of her hands and Scorpius shot a stunning spell at it, watching it explode on the floor. He breathed out slowly as Delphi screamed out, hitting the ground again. Ropes snapped around her arms, preventing her from moving, and she started to talk.

A single silencing charm later, and quiet fell over the pitch. Scorpius took a breath and then hurried over to Albus, going to hug him. Before he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend, however, Albus pulled away sharply, staring at him.  
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snapped.   
“Albus,” Scorpius frowned. “I was going to hug you – I was scared–”  
“Who the hell are you?” Albus continued to stare at him. “And why do you think it’s okay to hug strangers? Creep.”  
“I – Albus – what are you talking about? I’m not a stranger–”  
“Then why do I have no idea who the fuck you are?”

Albus stood up, walking backwards and staring around himself. He didn’t appear to be unaware of where he was, just a little confused. Scorpius looked back at Professor McGonagall as she secured Delphi properly before looking to him.

He started to walk towards her, not asking Albus to follow him. Whatever was going through his head, asking him to come with a person who had, in his opinion, just accosted him, would not go down well.  
“Is he all right?” Professor McGonagall asked.

Scorpius was about to reply when he noticed Delphi, shaking with silent laughter, and he had to stop and breathe.  
“He doesn’t know who I am,” his voice cracked. “He’s got no idea. I…”

* * *

Albus stared around himself, trying to remember how he had ended up on the Quidditch Pitch. And trying to work out who the strange boy with unnaturally blond hair was. He had acted as if the two of them had been friends for years, and Albus could have sworn that he’d never seen him before.

Of course, he couldn’t remember any of the three people stood on the other side of the pitch. The woman who he had been with when he first remembered something had attempted to convince him to do some sort of strange journey through time without telling him why. He had point blank refused, ignoring the threats. And that was when the other two had appeared and started some sort of huge fight in front of him.

He started to walk towards the three people, hands raised slightly in an attempt to defend himself. As he approached, the blond boy looked at the floor awkwardly. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he’d just been crying, but Albus didn’t say anything, instead turning to the older woman in lime-green robes.  
“What’s going on?” he asked slowly. “Who are you and why are we on the Quidditch Pitch?”  
“You don’t remember who we are?” the woman frowned worriedly.  
“Creepy blond boy,” Albus pointed at him. “Random woman who has just come and saved my ass from a weird woman who was threatening me with shit I didn’t care about. Genuinely, what the fuck is going on?”  
“Albus,” the woman began calmly, “I understand that you are a little – unsure of your–”  
“I’m not unsure of myself,” Albus said. “I just don’t know why I am here or who I am with and that’s freaking me out. But I’m not unsure.”  
“Scorpius,” the woman turned to the blond boy. “Could you take Albus up to my office and wait there while I secure – her. I’ll be up as quickly as possible. The password is McGregor.”  
“Yes, Professor,” the blonde boy – Scorpius – nodded. “What’s going to happen?”  
“We work out what’s she done,” Professor murmured. “And then we move from there.”

Albus looked around again as the blond boy – as Scorpius – walked towards him, offering him a small smile. He didn’t return it.  
“Are you okay to come with me?” Scorpius asked quietly.  
“Do I have a choice?”  
“I’d like to give you one.”

Albus frowned and then shrugged, sighing. Scorpius smiled again awkwardly, and then indicated to the Pitch entrance. Albus followed him, not saying a word as they walked up the grounds and into the castle. Scorpius led him up several staircases to the large stone gargoyle that guarded the headteacher’s office.

Once inside, Scorpius pulled a couple of chairs out and offered one to Albus. He took it, muttering a thank you, and then waited for Scorpius to sit. Then he sat a good few feet away from him. He was still creeped out by the strange boy. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious.  
“What is going on?” he asked quietly.   
“I don’t know,” Scorpius admitted. “I came to – look – for you, and you suddenly can’t remember me.”  
“Don’t feel bad,” Albus glanced up at the ceiling. “I can’t remember anyone.”  
“No one at all?”  
“I can’t remember meeting people. I know who some people are. Just don’t know how I know them. I don’t know.”

Albus sighed, fiddling with his jacket zip as he looked around. The room was surprisingly interesting to look at, and it kept him from having to engage in further awkward conversation. The two of them sat there for a long time, just waiting silently, for something to happen.

When Professor came in through the door, he stood up, ready to ask her what was going on. However, Scorpius went to her first, murmuring something to her. The response was a worried glance at Albus, from the both of them, and he scowled.  
“If you’re talking about me, I’d appreciate you just saying it to me.”  
“I think she modified your memory,” Scorpius said quietly.  
“She?” Albus frowned. “The other weird woman? Who is she?”  
“We’re not sure,” Professor said calmly. “We don’t know what’s going on, but you need to come with me, Albus.”  
“Where?”  
“St. Mungo’s.”  
“I’m not ill.”  
“You’ve been hit with a very powerful spell,” Professor said. “It is usually required that a person would go to St. Mungo’s.”  
“But I can remember stuff. I’m not like that Lockhart git.”  
“Albus, please.”  
“Fine,” Albus shrugged. “Yeah. Whatever.”

He followed her to the fireplace, taking a handful of Floo Powder and watching her enter the fireplace. Once she had disappeared, he stepped into the flames, coughing as the ash rose in clouds around him. For some reason, he glanced at Scorpius once more before throwing the powder at the flames, shouting the Hospital name.

Professor was waiting for him when he shot out the fireplace into a busy foyer full of healers and patients and various other people. Albus walked to her and she lead him through the crowds to a desk. Behind it sat a bored-looking witch, fiddling with her quill. She looked up as Professor and Albus approached.  
“Can I help you?” she said, sighing.  
“A Hogwarts student has been hit with a memory charm,” Professor said calmly.  
“Spell Damage,” the witch pointed to the board behind them. “Someone’ll show you where to go from there.”

Professor thanked her and Albus followed her up the stairs. He waited silently as she spoke to Healer after Healer after Healer, and then answered question after question after question about what he did and didn’t remember, what he did and didn’t know, and what had and hadn’t happened.

By the end of it, he wanted to scream. He wanted to scream at them that he didn’t remember anything, didn’t know anyone, and just wanted to be alone to make sense of it. Because all these questions were being fired at him, and he was already trying to work out the answers. He didn’t know the answers, and he desperately wanted to.

Eventually, he did break, shouting at them to shut up, to leave him alone, that he needed to be alone otherwise his head was going to explode because he didn’t understand either. They stopped after that. They left him alone after that.

And he sat down on the bed and just let himself cry.

* * *

Scorpius waited for Professor McGonagall to return, sitting silently in her office. He had to understand his new reality. He had to understand that Albus no longer knew who he was, no longer wanted anything to do with him.

He had been stupid to expect a good part of his life to last. He had been stupid to expect that life would give him the opportunity to have love for longer than a few weeks. And it wasn’t even something he could blame fate for this time. It was his fault.

He had kept the Time-Turner. He had agreed to letting Delphi come. He hadn’t moved quick enough, and because of that, Albus no longer had any memory of anything that mattered to him.

When Professor McGonagall emerged from the fireplace again, Scorpius stood up quickly, biting his lip.  
“Is he okay?” he mumbled.  
“He will be,” Professor McGonagall nodded. “You should go to bed. We’ll deal with this in the morning.”

Scorpius nodded, concentrating desperately on not letting himself cry. He didn’t want to go to bed. He didn’t want to be without Albus. He didn’t want to do anything. Because what was the point?

No. No. There was a point. He would be okay.

He waited for Professor McGonagall to turn away, and then he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the flower pot, running out of the office. He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t stay there without Albus. Not when he was too scared to even go near the Common Room. He needed to feel safe. He needed Albus. But they wouldn’t let him into St. Mungo’s.

At the first fireplace he found, he stepped in, coughing as the soot billowed in clouds around him. He closed his eyes, throwing the powder down as he cried out ‘Malfoy Manor’.

He hated Floo travel. He hated the constant spinning sensation and the soot and ash all over him. It always made him feel sick, as if he were going to vomit. But right now, he didn’t care. He needed to go home.

It didn’t matter that he hadn’t told anyone where he was going or that no one other than Professor McGonagall had even seen him. They would be able to work out where he was and he could deal with any trouble he got into at another time.

When he was spat out of the Manor’s main fireplace, he just curled up on the rug, tears now spilling out his eyes as he fought the wave of nausea. He just sat, sobbing as he pulled his robes off and shoved them into his mouth, starting to scream.

The sound filled his mind and he didn’t hear the footsteps until his father knelt down beside him, a look of confusion and fear fixed on his face.  
“Scorpius?”  
“He doesn’t remember,” Scorpius sobbed, screaming out again. “He doesn’t remember me.”

Draco pulled Scorpius into a gentle hug and Scorpius cried into his shoulder, shaking and sobbing violently.  
“He doesn’t remember me anymore,” his voice shook, almost uncontrollably. “He doesn’t remember me and he’s gone and I don’t know what I’m going to do because I can’t live without him but I have to and I don’t know what’s going on and I’m scared…dad…I’m so scared…”  
“What’s going on, Scorpius?” Draco said softly. “Talk to me.”  
“He’s gone. He’s gone. I love him so much and he’s gone.”

Draco didn’t respond with another question, allowing Scorpius to carry on crying until he stopped naturally, looking up at the ceiling, wiping away the tear tracks on his cheeks.  
“What do I do?” he whispered. “What…”  
“Talk to me,” Draco murmured. “Come through to the kitchen. I’ll make you some tea. And just talk it out.”

Scorpius nodded silently.

Ten minutes later, he was sat at the kitchen table, and his dad sat down next to him, placing a mug of tea beside him. Scorpius picked it up shakily, trying to sip it. It was too hot, but he didn’t care. He needed a distraction, even if that involved scalding himself.

Or maybe he needed to think about it. Maybe he needed to talk it out, as his dad was suggesting. Maybe that would make it better. A little better.

So, he started to talk quietly. He told it as if it were a story that didn’t really exist. Because that hurt a little less than acknowledging that it was true.

He told the story of coming back from the other world, seeing Albus, falling in love. He told of keeping the Time-Turner because he couldn’t trust the Ministry, hiding it as a little secret for weeks. Inviting Delphi, and then being up on the Owlery. And then the moments when she had started to turn and Scorpius had known that Albus needed to run.

And then the moments where he had run and he had lost Albus. Where he had been a coward. The moments where he had doomed the person he loved most in the world.

And after he was done, he just cried and cried and cried again.

Draco wrapped his arms around his son again, and Scorpius held on tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry I lied.”  
“You lied for a reason,” Draco said calmly. “You were – you were justified in not trusting them. They’re not particularly trustworthy.”

Scorpius didn’t reply, staring over his dad’s shoulder into a space that he used to love, that didn’t seem to matter anymore. The hundreds of times he had curled up in that alcove with a book to watch his parents. The hundreds of times the three of them, then the two of them, had baked hundreds of things for the three of them to enjoy down by the tree in the garden. The thousands of smiles that had come from this room.

None of it seemed to matter anymore. None of it mattered because he would never be able to share it with Albus. Albus would never know how much he’d wanted to show him these parts of him. The quiet, vulnerable parts beyond what he showed the world. The silent parts that smiled at the small things. And the loud parts of him that laughed with the birds.

It was all pointless.

Because Albus was gone.

“Scorpius.”

Scorpius flinched slightly as his dad’s voice broke through his thoughts, looking up at him silently.  
“I know this is a small thing,” Draco murmured, “but if anyone tries to come after you for keeping the Time-Turner, you don’t fight them.”  
“What?”  
“You send them to me,” Draco said calmly. “You understand? You send them straight to me.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I have secrets that I am willing to share if it means those hawks will leave you alone.”  
“What do you mean?”

Draco stood up, walking to a small cabinet in the corner. He pulled one of the doors and then reached for a small key that he inserted into a small keyhole on the table. Then he walked to the fireplace, placing his hand on a small brick. There was a sharp crack and Scorpius flinched again as a small hole opened in the chimney above. Draco reached in and pulled out a small bag.

Scorpius frowned as Draco opened it and pulled out a Time-Turner. Another Time-Turner. It was different to the one that he and Albus had found, a slightly different colour, and it seemed to give off a more powerful aura. It seemed even more terrifying than the first one.  
“Dad?”  
“The Time-Turner that you used was a prototype,” Draco explained quietly. “Made of inexpensive metal. It does the job, but it’s not worth selling to a true collector of Dark Magic.”  
“It was made for you?” Scorpius stared at him.  
“No,” Draco shook his head firmly. “Your grandfather. He – well you know your grandfather was a little bit of a pretentious git – you know what he was like.”  
“It was him,” Scorpius murmured.   
“He’d never have used it,” Draco said quickly. “He much preferred a world without – without Voldemort.”  
“But it was made for him,” Scorpius muttered. “And you kept it?”  
“I wanted to give it in,” Draco said quietly. “But I couldn’t. Certainly not after that – that rumour started. I couldn’t subject you to that.”

Scorpius nodded, taking another sip of the tea. He grimaced slightly as he realised it was now cold and quite unpleasant.  
“Can I see him?” he mumbled.   
“Albus?”  
“Please.”  
“I’ll write to Ginny,” Draco said. “I’m sure she’ll be okay with it.”  
“He hated me,” Scorpius whispered. “He hated me so much.”  
“He was scared. He’ll come around.”

Scorpius nodded, trying to work up the ability to believe those words. He needed to believe that Albus would be okay to at least see him, because he didn’t think that he would be able to live with himself otherwise. Knowing that it was his fault.

Draco pulled him into another hug and he took a deep breath. He would be okay. He would work out how to be okay. Probably. If Albus tolerated his presence. If he didn’t, then he didn’t know what he would do.

He jumped slightly as the doorbell rung and Draco stood up, walking out to answer it. Scorpius stood up slowly as he heard Harry Potter’s voice ring through the hallway.   
“Do we have to do this now?” Draco sighed. “I’m a little busy.”  
“This is about the future of our–”  
“I am trying to speak with my son, something that I happen to value more. So yes, I’m busy.”  
“Scorpius is supposed to be at school.”  
“You’re not supposed to be in my home but here we are.”  
“Will you just answer the questions?”  
“Quickly.”

Scorpius sat back down as his dad walked back into the kitchen, followed closely by an irate Harry Potter. He shrunk back, fiddling with his jacket as Harry launched into several questions.   
“Stop,” Draco said quietly. “Slow down. And respect the fact that you are in my home.”  
“What do you know about your aunt?” Harry asked.  
“My aunt?”  
“Bellatrix Lestrange.”  
“Dead,” Draco frowned. “You know that.”  
“Do you know anything about her – interactions with Voldemort?”  
“Get to the point.”  
“We searched a woman’s room at St. Oswald’s.”

Scorpius bit his lip at that. He remembered the room. It had been a highly uncomfortable night that he had spent on the floor next to Albus, but now he wished that he had made the most of every single second that he hadn’t been able to sleep.  
“Is that protocol now, searching random people’s rooms,” Draco half-snapped.  
“We found a proclamation. She claims to be – she claims to be Voldemort’s daughter.”

Scorpius flinched again, starting to stand up. He walked towards the cupboard, reaching shakily for a glass as he tried to control his breathing. It was a rumour. It was just a stupid rumour. Except maybe it wasn’t. Maybe there was some truth to it. And that meant – that meant that the rumour about him, the rumour about him had some truly concrete evidence to run with.

He could be Voldemort’s son. It didn’t matter what Albus had said to him in the Library. It didn’t matter that Albus truly believed that Voldemort couldn’t have a child like him. Because he didn’t believe that anymore.

Maybe he was Voldemort’s son. Maybe the bullies were justified. Maybe he was a monster. He had, after all, just caused the loss of one of the only people he loved. Maybe that made him a monster.

He screamed out, dropping the glass and flinching again as it smashed on the stone floor. Immediately, Draco was at his side, his arms wrapped around him gently, rocking him back and forth.  
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I promise, it’s okay.”  
“What happened?” Harry asked suddenly. “What happened when you met her?”  
“She took Albus,” Scorpius whispered. “He pushed me away and she took him. Because of me. Because I wasn’t quick enough. Because I…” he broke out into sobs again.  
“It’s not your fault,” Draco said quietly, continuing to rock him back and forth.  
“What do you mean you weren’t quick enough?” Harry demanded.  
“I was going to get in her way. I was going to make sure he got away. And then…then I didn’t…”  
“You let her take him?”  
“No!” Scorpius cried out, trying not to scream. “No! I didn’t! I–”  
“Shhh,” Draco murmured.   
“Draco–”  
“Be quiet,” Draco snapped.

Scorpius allowed himself to be lead back to the table, sitting and staring blankly forward. He barely reacted when his dad set another mug of tea in front of him, sitting down beside him.  
“It’s not your fault,” he said calmly. “You are not responsible for the actions of that monster.”  
“I couldn’t save him.”  
“It is not your job to save him.”  
“He tried to save me. Because he loved me. It should have been me. I should have saved him.”

He didn’t listen to the conversation that ensued over his head, though he could hear that Harry was getting angrier and Draco was attempting to keep himself calm. Until he snapped.  
“Mr. Potter,” he said icily. “You come to my house in the middle of the night, demanding answers about a woman I was not aware of the existence of this morning. You do not have a right to accuse my son of endangering someone that he would go to the end of the earth for.”  
“Why does–”  
“Your son went to that woman for help because of your argument,” Draco snapped. “If you are insistent on blaming someone because you can’t live without a reason, look in the mirror. At the very least, leave my son alone.”

Scorpius stood up slowly, muttering something about going to bed, and then walked towards the door, trying not to let himself stumble. He could go back to Hogwarts in the morning. He could deal with the trouble he had caused in the morning. He just needed to sleep now.

He didn’t make it to his room, breaking down at the top of the stairs and lying in a heap, screaming into his jacket sleeve. Why Albus? Why did it have to be Albus who suffered because of him? He had lost his mum. Why did he have to lose Albus too? And what if he lost someone else.

At some point, Scorpius was vaguely conscious of his dad coming up the stairs and helping him stand up, carrying him down the hallway to his room. He curled up on his bed, begging his dad to stay with him, before sobbing himself to sleep, trying to convince himself that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

When Albus woke up, the room was still as light as it had been when he had been allowed to sleep. He hated it. It was like no time had passed at all, as if the world had frozen while he slept and he would have to carry on answering the Healers’ mind-splitting questions.

He sat up slowly, dreading the sight that was going to pan out in front of him, but the room was empty apart from a red-haired woman in a grey blazer and light-green skirt. Beside her was a bag that looked as if it contained a book and quite a few photo albums.

She appeared to be watching him and smiled as he made eye-contact with her. He didn’t smile back, instead looking elsewhere.  
“Who are you?” he asked quietly.   
“My name is Ginny,” the woman replied, her voice shaking slightly.   
“Did I know you?” Albus said. “Before – this?”  
“You did,” she nodded. “I was – I am – your mother.”  
“You’re my mum?”  
“Yes,” she smiled hopefully.

Albus looked at her a little, noting that her eyes were red and puffy, apparently from crying, and that she was fiddling with her wedding ring. He had seen Scorpius fiddling with his hands a couple of times the night before, when he was at his most vulnerable. Maybe, Albus thought, he was a stressful person to be around.  
“Okay,” he nodded. “Okay. You’re my mum. Okay. Um. I guess it’s nice to meet you.”  
“How are you feeling?” she asked.   
“Still completely clueless as to what is going on,” Albus shrugged. “What happened? Why can’t I remember anything?”  
“I’ve got some photos of our family,” Ginny said quickly, reaching down to pull out one of the photo albums. “Would you like to see them?”  
“Yeah, sure,” Albus shrugged, deciding to ignore that she had not even acknowledged his questions.

Ginny moved her chair so that she was sat beside him and then passed him the album. He opened it slowly, gazing at the first photo. There were about thirty people in it, the majority of whom had the same red hair that Ginny did. And then, in the middle, were Ginny and him and the people that he supposed were the rest of his family.   
“This was from James’ sixteenth birthday,” Ginny said quietly. “He’s your older brother. That’s him.” She indicated the boy with a mischievous grin and messy dark hair. “Lily, your younger sister, is beside him.”  
“Lily? James?” Albus frowned, looking up at Ginny. “Are you and my dad history fanatics or something?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Lily and James? Like ‘Lily and James Potter’?”  
“You know who they are?”  
“Yeah,” Albus nodded. “I’ve got memory of pretty much everything up until just after the Battle of Hogwarts. Don’t know why. Can remember magic, but, again, don’t know how I know it.”  
“Well,” Ginny nodded slowly, “your father and I aren’t history fanatics. Lily and James Potter are your grandparents. Harry Potter is your father. We named Lily and James after his parents.”  
“And me?” Albus frowned. “Dumbledore?”  
“And Severus Snape,” Ginny said quietly, appearing to be slightly resentful. “Your name is Albus Severus Potter.”  
“Right,” Albus nodded.

He turned back to the photo album, flicking through the pages. He started to recognise the same people over and over and, occasionally, there was a neatly-written caption that allowed him to work out who most of them were. It required minimal conversation and also allowed him time to adjust to his full name.

Albus Severus Potter. Who the fuck had thought that was a good idea? Some git who was a complete mystery and annoyance to everyone he met. And the guy who had murdered him and supposedly was a good guy in the end. Why the fuck thought was it a good idea to shove their names into his?

As he reached the end of the album, he closed it slowly, looking upwards as he tried to consolidate the information in his head. He had two siblings, two parents, and a shedload of cousins, the majority of whom had flaming-red hair. Everyone else had dark hair, apart from one person – apparently named Teddy – who had bright blue hair in some photos and other varying colours in other.  
“I’ve got a few more,” Ginny said, “if you’d like to see them.”  
“It’s fine,” Albus said quickly. “Yeah, it’s – it’s fine.”

Ginny nodded and the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Albus didn’t really have anything to say or ask, beyond what had happened, and he didn’t ask that because it had been ignored the first time. Ginny also didn’t appear to know what to say.

Eventually, Albus felt himself starting to drift back to sleep and he let himself slip away. He had to come to terms with the world, and yet, it felt as if there was very little for him to use to help him. A scrapbook of family photos and a confused, crying blond boy. What was he supposed to do with that?

* * *

Scorpius returned to Hogwarts the next morning, accompanied by his dad. He had overslept, having only managed to fall asleep at about two in the morning, but he was in his spare robes and somewhat ready to return to lessons. That was the theory.

In practice, he knew that would collapse. The minute he returned to his desk, knowing that Albus was absent and knowing he wasn’t coming back, he would likely be forced to leave the classroom before breaking down. This knowledge came along with the knowledge that he would have to endure the usual bullying, as well as the rumours that would spring up about Albus.

He didn’t know why rumours appeared so quickly. No one actually cared about the pair of them. Actually, that was a lie. He did know why rumours appeared so quickly. Because people just couldn’t resist another chance to bully and hurt them. Even if it meant going back on everything they’d ever done. Apparently, principles weren’t an important thing.

They flooed back to school, shooting out of Professor McGonagall’s fireplace to find her sat behind her desk, sorting through some paperwork. She looked up as Scorpius stood, staring at the floor. Draco emerged just behind him, straightening up and wiping the soot off his robes.  
“Scorpius,” she said calmly. “Draco.”  
“Professor,” Draco nodded a hello. “I hope you’re well.”  
“As well as can be expected.”  
“Sorry,” Scorpius mumbled.  
“It’s okay,” Professor McGonagall said softly. “I understand why you went, though a note as to where would have been welcome.”

Scorpius nodded, muttering another sorry.

“It’s okay,” Professor McGonagall said quietly. “And Mrs. Potter has said that you are allowed to visit Albus tomorrow, if you are happy with that, Draco?”  
“Of course,” Draco nodded.  
“Tomorrow night?” Scorpius asked hopefully, allowing himself a miniscule smile for a moment. “He wants to see me?”  
“I’m not sure,” Professor McGonagall said. “I think Mrs. Potter is trying to reintroduce him to his life.”

Scorpius nodded again. It was stupid of him to assume that Albus would have any interest in the creepy blond boy who had attempted to hug him when he had first ‘woken up’. He was well aware that he should just be grateful Albus hadn’t requested a restraining order.

He said a quiet goodbye to his dad, hugging him tightly, and then he walked out of the office, going down to the dormitory to pick up his bag before walking late into a lesson for the second time in his school career. That thought hurt in itself. That knowledge of when the first time had been, and why.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and Scorpius kept his head down as much as possible, simply because he was unsure as to whether he would be able to stay composed if he had to speak to anyone. It wasn’t an issue in the one event he had to work with a partner. Because he had no partner. That lesson was the closest he came to breaking.

During dinner, Scorpius couldn’t bring himself to brave the Great Hall without Albus and he sat on the Marble Staircase, listening to the sounds of chatter echoing around him. They were all so happy. But why would any of them have any idea what was going on? Why would any of them actually care?

He pulled out the copy of Catcher In The Rye that he had been rereading and opening it to his bookmark. He needed a distraction. A distraction that didn’t involve learning things or studying or reminders. He just needed to remove himself from the world.

So he read.

Occasionally people would walk past him, some ignoring him, some muttering insults that he ignored. It wasn’t anything new and it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t cope with. If anything, it was a half-decent distraction coupled with the book.

It was all right until two people walked past him and then stopped below him, kicking him to get his attention. He looked up.  
“What do you want?” he muttered.  
“Where’s your boyfriend?” one of them – Robert McClaggen – sneered.  
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Scorpius forced himself to breathe.   
“Why?” the other one – Jake Pucey – said with an air of mock sadness. “You have a fight? I’ll let you in on a secret. He probably just didn’t want to be dating a Voldemort.”  
“Be quiet,” Scorpius snapped, starting to stand up.

He reached to put the book back in his bag but McClaggen kicked his bag down the stairs and then blocked him as he started to walk to get it.   
“What you reading?” Pucey made to grab the book but Scorpius side-stepped, keeping his head down. “Oh come on Malfoy. Don’t be like that.”  
“Piss off,” Scorpius muttered, pushing past them.

The two boys laughed loudly, shoving him forwards. He ignored it, picking up his bag and putting the book back in. Sitting on the stairs had been a bad idea. But he didn’t want to go back to the dormitory alone. It appeared he was spending the night in the library. Madam Pince wouldn’t mind.

He started to walk away, and then he stumbled forward as one of them shoved him again. He tried to ignore them as they yelled at him, demanding to know where Albus was and shouting various rumours at him. But eventually, it just turned back to what it always was – the usual unpleasant taunts.

The comments about how Voldemort’s son deserved it worse than he already had it.

The shouts about how his mum had deserved her fate.

The taunts about how Albus had left him because he had realised what a load of shit he was.

And then they had snapped. Then they both came charging into him, shoving him so hard that he tripped over, scraping his knees on the hard stone floor. Before he could pick himself up, one of them grabbed his bag and opened it, pulling his book out. They tossed his bag back to him, flicking through the book.  
“The Catcher in the Rye?” Pucey sneered. “Bit pretentious isn’t it? Even for you, Malfoy.”  
“Give it back,” Scorpius muttered, picking himself up and trying to grab the book.  
“Why?” McClaggen grinned. “You reading so people won’t find out Voldemort’s son murdered a Potter?”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“He’s gone and you were the last person who saw him.”  
“You think I killed him?” Scorpius stared. “Why…why would I…”  
“Oh cut the pretence, Voldemort,” Pucey snapped, holding the book open. “You killed him, didn’t you?”  
“Please give the book back,” Scorpius said quickly.  
“Did. You. Kill. Him.”  
“Why would I hurt him?” Scorpius wanted to scream. “He’s literally the only person here that cares about me.”  
“Then where is he?”

Scorpius didn’t get a chance to reply as Pucey started to pull the two halves of his book apart, tearing it down the spine.  
“Stop!” he shouted, trying to grab the book again, “Stop! Give it back!”

Pucey didn’t, continuing to tear the book. Scorpius made an attempt to shove him so that he could grab the book, but McClaggen seized his robe hood and held him back.  
“What did you do to him?”  
“Why do you even care?” Scorpius shouted. “You beat the shit out of him on a weekly basis. Why do you care now?”

Neither of them replied because there was a shout from the entrance to the Great Hall and Lily Potter came running towards them, yelling.  
“Get off him!” she screeched. “You monsters, get off him!”  
“Make me,” McClaggen sneered.

Lily glared at him and then turned to Pucey. There was a half-second of silence, and then he yelled out in pain as Lily kneed him in the groin, grabbing the book from his hands.  
“You little–”  
“Oh fuck off,” Lily snapped, walking away.

By now, McClaggen had let go of Scorpius and was hurrying up the stairs, somewhat sheepishly.   
“Thanks,” Scorpius mumbled, biting his lip.  
“Are you okay?” Lily asked gently.

Scorpius shrugged, and then jumped as Lily threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. Scorpius pulled away quickly.  
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I can’t – I…”  
“Lily?” James appeared behind his sister. “What just happened?”  
“Those dicks were hurting Scorpius so I stopped them,” Lily said quickly.  
“Hey mate,” James smiled sadly. “How are you holding up?”  
“I’m not?” Scorpius shrugged. “I just…him not being here…”  
“Yeah,” James nodded. “I’m sorry, mate. I’m really sorry.”  
“It wasn’t your fault.”  
“It’s not yours either,” James said firmly. “You’re seeing him tomorrow night?”  
“If he actually lets me anywhere near him.”  
“Why wouldn’t he?” Lily frowned.  
“I messed up,” Scorpius took a shaky breath. “I tried to hug him. He didn’t know who I was. I scared him.”  
“Did he snap?”

Scorpius nodded.

“That’s just typical Al when he’s not comfortable. He literally just swears defensively.”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded again.  
“Scorpius,” Lily said firmly, pulling him into another hug. “He cared about you so much before. Once he gets to know you again, he’ll care about you again.”  
“If he tolerates my presence.”  
“If he doesn’t, you stay anyway,” Lily said firmly. “Don’t take his bullshit.”  
“I don’t want to upset him…”  
“He’ll be more upset if you leave. Believe me. It’ll be a subconscious thing.”

Scorpius nodded, trying to believe her. He paused and then he passed the slightly damaged book back to Lily.  
“Could you give it to him?” he mumbled.   
“Of course,” Lily smiled softly.   
“Don’t say it’s from me.”  
“I won’t, but he wouldn’t mind.”

Scorpius nodded silently.

“Get some sleep, mate,” James said quietly, pulling the three of them into a big hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow. And it’s going to be okay, you know that?”  
“Just about,” Scorpius nodded. “Thank you.”

It was all he could manage.

* * *

Albus had passed the point of being bored out of his skull several hours before anyone turned up. He had tried talking to a Healer once. It had turned into a game of ‘what do you remember’. He had asked them to kindly piss off after the questions had become unbearable again. But that meant that he’d had to spend the rest of the day occupying himself.

The door opened again after he’d eaten dinner and he looked up to see Ginny – to see his mum – and two teenagers. One with messy dark hair and a stupidly cocky grin. One with a mixture of red and brown hair and a nervous smile. Albus found himself smiling at them.  
“James?” he said slowly. “And Lily?”  
“Hey, mate,” the boy – James – smiled. “How are you feeling?”  
“Bored,” Albus shrugged, “but there’s not a lot I can do about it.”

There was a short silence and then Ginny cleared her throat, breaking the silence. Albus smiled at her, a little awkwardly, and she smiled back.  
“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I’ve been asked to speak with a few of the Healers about their next decision. Is it okay if I leave?”  
“Yeah,” Albus nodded. “Yeah, see you later?”

It occurred to him that he was, in some way, speaking to his mother with a sort of formality that he’d speak to an acquaintance with, but it felt most natural. He knew that Ginny was his mother, but it didn’t feel that way. It felt formal. He had only met her that morning.

He flopped back into the mound of pillows he had built up behind him as the door closed and James laughed. Lily hit his elbow and then Albus was the one laughing.  
“So I’m going to assume that we’re reasonably typical siblings,” he said.  
“No,” Lily said quickly. “We’re…”  
“Lil,” James raised his eyebrows. “We are. Literally.”

Albus laughed again, and then he frowned slightly. He had no memory of the people in front of him, but they were fun. They seemed to care about him. And they weren’t behaving differently. Supposedly.   
“Oh, before I forget,” James held out a book, “a friend asked us to give this to you.”  
“Thank you,” Albus said gratefully. “It’s so boring in here.”  
“No interesting conversation?” James grinned.  
“Nope,” Albus shook his head. “Can you guys stay?”  
“You used to love being alone,” Lily smiled. “Are we seeing your social side?”  
“No,” Albus shook his head, suddenly finding himself more serious. “I just – I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts.”  
“What do you mean?” Lily asked.  
“What happened?” Albus asked sharply. “What happened to me?”  
“No one’s told you?” Lily frowned.  
“The only time anyone has talked to me,” Albus muttered, “all they have done is asked me questions about what I remember. And Gin – mum – just ignored the question when I asked.”  
“What about dad?” James said. “Surely dad knows what happened.”  
“I haven’t met dad yet.”

The room fell silent and Albus opened the book to the first page in an attempt to ignore the awkwardness in the room.  
“He hasn’t visited you yet?” James said. “That’s shit. I’m sorry, mate.”  
“Is he always like this?” Albus asked.  
“Too focussed on work?” Lily raised her eyebrows. “Just a little.”  
“Brilliant,” Albus muttered. “Who – who asked you to give me the book?”  
“A friend,” Lily said quickly. “They asked – they asked us not to say.”  
“Was it Scorpius?”

Albus wasn’t entirely sure why he thought it was the strange blond boy who would do it for him, but he had seemed to care about him and it seemed as if the boy was the sort of person who would do that sort of thing.  
“Is he okay?” he found himself asking.  
“He’s shaken by it,” Lily said quietly. “I think we all are.”  
Albus nodded. “Thanks for coming,” he said quietly. “It means…it means a lot.”

His siblings smiled and he smiled back. They chatted for a little longer, but the conversation started to turn towards older memories and Albus started to make excuses about needing to sleep. He didn’t want to talk about things that he couldn’t remember when every sentence was punctuated with ‘do you remember?’ or ‘what about that?’.

Eventually, Ginny returned from the meeting and the three of them said goodbye to Albus. He said goodbye and then opened the book as they left. He wasn’t tired. Of course he wasn’t tired. He had sat in bed all day.

So he just read, spending possibly more time reading the little notes in cramped handwriting than reading the actual book. They were funny and warm and almost homely for some reason. They seemed the most familiar out of everything that he had experienced.

The next morning, he was dozing and was vaguely aware from someone sat down next to him, not dressed in the token Healer robes. He opened his eyes to see a man in a blue suit sat beside him. He had messy black hair, circular glasses and, on his forehead, a scar shaped like a lightning bolt. Albus resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the hopeful smile the man had plastered on his face, instead devoting his energy to sitting up.  
“Are you my dad?”  
“Yes,” the man nodded. “I’m Harry.”  
“Yeah,” Albus nodded. “It’s – um – it’s nice to meet you.”  
“It’s nice to see you too,” Harry said. “I’m sorry that I haven’t come sooner.”  
“Lily said you were very focussed on work.”  
“I would have come sooner,” Harry said quickly. “However, this entire thing turned out to be a matter of likely national importance.”  
“Right,” Albus nodded. “Okay.”

He paused for a moment, debating whether his question was really the sort of thing he should be asking when Harry had come to meet him, to talk to him. And then he decided that yes, he should ask. Because he deserved to know why he was sat in a Hospital Room with no recollection of any event prior to two days ago.  
“Why am I here?” he asked quietly.  
“Hm?”  
“Why am I here?” Albus asked. “What happened to me?”  
“What do you mean?”

This time, Albus did roll his eyes slightly.

“Who was the woman? What did she do to me? Why am I here?”  
“We’re not entirely sure,” Harry said slowly. “We know that she modified your memory but we don’t know what happened leading up to that.”  
“There was someone else there. Haven’t you asked him?”  
“I attempted to but his father was not particularly welcoming of it.”  
“Right,” Albus muttered.

For some reason, he didn’t seem to believe what he was being told. At the very least, he knew something was being held back. He sighed. If they weren’t telling him willingly, the chances were that someone or other didn’t want him to know. Which meant he wouldn’t find out by asking the adults around him.  
“Albus,” Harry started to speak quietly. “I know this is a lot to ask, and I understand if it’s too much.”  
“Yeah?”  
“There is a trial,” Harry said, “for the woman who did this. Would you be willing to testify against her?”  
“What?”  
“There’s a chance that she’d walk free if there was no witness and Scorpius Malfoy wasn’t present for long so his word isn’t particularly strong.”  
“So you’re asking the kid with no memory of the incident?” Albus frowned. “Okay. Makes sense.”  
“That in itself is evidence for her crimes,” Harry pointed out.  
“Is that why everyone has actively refused to tell me what happened?” Albus snapped. “Is this why I don’t even know her name?”  
“Albus?”  
“I have asked mum, Lily and James, and now you, what has been going on,” Albus said, trying not to snap. “Mum ignored me. Lily and James didn’t know. And now you’re refusing to say. Is that why? Is it so I offer a more convincing testimony at the trial?”  
“No,” Harry started to say, but it wasn’t convincing.  
“Did you actually want to talk to me?” Albus muttered. “Or is this still work-related?”  
“Albus. I wanted to see you, I promise.”  
“But the first thing we end up talking about is something I can’t remember and you won’t tell me. Something work-related.”

Albus didn’t wait for the reply, opening the book back to the first page. He wanted to read it again while actually paying more attention to the story than the notes in the margins.  
“Albus–”  
“No,” Albus snapped. “I don’t want to offer a testimony when no one will tell me what happened. I don’t want to spend time with my father when the first thing he’s done upon meeting me is ask me to do something related to his work. Please can we just try and move on a little.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m still in Hospital,” Albus closed the book again. “There isn’t really anything wrong with me and, before you interrupt, I know there isn’t because I’ve been alone practically since I arrived. Which either means I’m not unwell or there’s no way to change it. Either way, I could survive pretty effectively outside of this room. Could I not come home, at the very least. Even if you don’t want me knowing what happened.”  
“It’s not a case of not wanting you to know,” Harry said quickly. “We don’t know everything.”  
“Can I come home?”  
“It’s not my decision.”  
“Of course it’s not,” Albus muttered, under his breath.

They didn’t really speak much after that.

* * *

Scorpius pushed the door open nervously, glancing back at his dad. He had been surprised when he had arrived to accompany him to St. Mungo’s, but he was glad. He needed the support. If this went wrong, he probably wouldn’t go back to school that night. If this went wrong, he probably wouldn’t move for weeks.

He stopped his thoughts, putting a hand in his pocket for a moment and fiddling with the edge of the bag of sweets in his pocket. It had been a last minute, likely stupid, idea that he hoped might make Albus less likely to hate him.

Albus was sat up in bed, nose buried in the book that Scorpius had sent through James and Lily. He looked up as Scorpius walked in, smiling awkwardly, and smiled back.   
“Hi,” he said. “Scorpius?”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius tried to stop himself from breaking into the widest smile he possessed. “Yeah, I’m Scorpius. You’re Albus. Umm. How are you – how are you feeling?”  
“People really like asking that, don’t they?” Albus mused.  
“Sorry,” Scorpius said quickly. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you. I don’t really know who you’ve seen and I – I’m sorry about–”  
“It’s fine,” Albus smiled, apparently laughing at his panic, something that Scorpius did not mind in the slightest. “Sit down if you want.”

Scorpius did so, starting to fiddle with the hem of his sleeve as he looked at Albus. He was smiling. He seemed content. He seemed as if everything was okay.  
“Was the book from you?” Albus asked.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Do you like it?”  
“I like your notes,” Albus smiled. “They’re quite funny.”  
“I just – I sort-of wrote what I thought,” Scorpius shrugged awkwardly. “I guess. I’m not sure.”  
“Are you okay?” Albus frowned.   
“I’m nervous,” Scorpius admitted.  
“Oh,” Albus stopped short. “Oh, right. Look about the other night–”  
“It’s fine,” Scorpius said quickly. “You were scared and I tried to hug you and that’s weird and I’m sorry and it’s okay…”  
“Scorpius,” Albus laughed. “It’s fine. I was going to apologise for being a dick. You were just trying to make sure I was okay. You didn’t know.”

There was a pause in which Scorpius debated saying about how it was his fault. But before he could speak, Albus broke the silence again.  
“Who are you?”   
“What?”  
“Who are you to me?” Albus asked again. “I’ve met my parents and siblings. But you weren’t in any of the photos they showed me.”  
“I am – was – your…”

He broke off. Boyfriend? Or best friend? Boyfriend would have freaked the old Albus out, but this wasn’t either old or ‘new’ Albus. This was just Albus. And he deserved the truth. The honest truth.  
“I was your best friend,” he said quietly. “We met on the first day of school. You stayed with me for my sweets. Speaking of which,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag of sweets, offering them to Albus.

Albus smiled, taking one nervously. He murmured a thank you and then popped the Pepper Imp in his mouth. Scorpius couldn’t stop his slightly insane giggles as smoke exploded out of his friend’s ears, disappearing into the rest of the room.  
“So,” Albus said slowly, “you were my best friend?”  
“It changed,” Scorpius admitted. “A few weeks ago.”  
“In what way?”  
“Look,” Scorpius started to realise that what he had said was probably the wrong thing to say when first meeting Albus, “I don’t want to imply – anything – when I say this. And I know you don’t remember and that’s probably my fault and I’m sorry and I’m not trying to pressure you when I say this–”  
“Scorpius?”  
“Sorry,” Scorpius took a deep breath. “We stopped being just – friends. We were a – we were a couple.”

Albus froze for a moment and Scorpius started to stand up, muttering apologies about what he’d said. It was a mistake. It was a stupid thing to say and he had just made an awful second impression and now Albus would hate him and–  
“Scorpius, are you okay?”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Stop apologising,” Albus smiled. “It’s – it’s okay. You understand that I don’t – feel – that. But please be my friend. If that’s okay?”  
“That would be great,” Scorpius smiled widely. “And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you lost your memory.”  
“Was it your fault?”  
“Probably.”  
“Will you explain?” Albus asked nervously.  
“What?”  
“What happened to us? Because no one has told me anything at all and I still don’t know why I’m here.”  
“No one?” Scorpius frowned. “Yeah. Of course.”  
“Thank you.”  
“So, I’m going to assume you know about the argument,” Scorpius started slowly.  
“No,” Albus shook his head. “What argument?”  
“They didn’t tell you?”

When Albus shook his head again, Scorpius explained about the argument and everything that had happened because of it. Albus listened intently, not interrupting or asking questions but, as he reached the part of the story about the Second Task, Scorpius began to slow down, trying to work out what it was best to say.

He didn’t want to go into detail about what had happened to him, but if he didn’t then what had happened afterwards might not make sense to Albus, and Scorpius didn’t want that either. He wanted to be able to state facts and not have to put emotion into them. If he got emotional about any of it, then as far as he was concerned, he was screwed.

He muttered most of the explanation about the other world and the aftermath of that. And then he reached the parts about Delphi. He forced strength into his voice for this, simply because this was the part that was most important to Albus. This had been kept from him for no reason.

He couldn’t bring himself to look Albus in the eye as he explained about running away, trying to find help, and then arriving too late.   
“And you know from there,” his voice was hollow and quiet.   
“That is the series of events that brought us here?” Albus stared.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Bit mental, really.”

Albus nodded, laughing. He pulled the duvet cover back and started to stand up, stretching. Scorpius looked at him, frowning.  
“I need to walk around,” Albus explained. “I’ve been in here for however many days. I need to get out.”  
“They probably won’t let you out,” Scorpius pointed out.   
“They better let me go on a walk,” Albus said, a little bite to his words. “There is nothing wrong with me.”

It was Scorpius who laughed this time, waiting for Albus to pull his shoes on and stand up properly. He opened the door, holding it open for Albus, who thanked him. A healer spotted them as soon they were out in the corridor, approaching them to question. Scorpius explained for them, asking if it would be possible to just walk around a little. He assured them that Albus would be okay and, should anything happen, he would find help immediately.

As they were walking away, Albus turned to him, frowning slightly. Scorpius smiled awkwardly, not really sure if he should say something.  
“You knew I was going to snap, didn’t you?”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “You – you have a habit of doing that when you’re upset or annoyed.”  
Albus laughed. “You seem to know your way around.”  
“Used to come a lot,” Scorpius muttered, no interest in where the conversation was turning.  
“Sorry,” Albus said gently. “Did I hit a sore spot? I’m sorry.”  
“It’s not your fault,” Scorpius said quietly. “You didn’t know. And it’s my fault you don’t remember anyway.”  
“Is it?”

Scorpius looked at him, frowning, and Albus stopped walking. Scorpius looked at the floor, biting his lip.  
“Scorpius,” Albus said quietly, “from what you told me, it sounded as if I was entirely free in my decision to get you out and go with her.”  
“It should have–”  
“No,” Albus said firmly. “Don’t focus on what ‘should’ have happened. Focus on what did happen. What happened was my fault, so I am sorry for causing you this pain.”  
“I’m sorry I wasn’t quick enough,” Scorpius muttered. “I thought she’d take you to the lake and because of that we didn’t find you and now you can’t remember anything. I’m sorry.”  
“Again, not your fault,” Albus started to walk again.

They walked in silence for a while, then started to speak again, Albus asking various questions about school, home, their friendship. Scorpius answered all of them quietly, normally monotonously. He had not slept properly since the event and it was beginning to take a toll, at the most inconvenient time.  
“When you told me you loved me,” Albus started suddenly and Scorpius jumped, “what did I do?”  
“What?” Scorpius froze for a moment. “Oh, right, sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Albus said quickly. “You don’t have to say, if it’s too difficult. I understand.”  
“No,” Scorpius shook his head. “No. It might help to – talk about it. Get it out.”

Albus nodded, smiling sympathetically at him, and Scorpius felt the crack in his heart widen. Anything that he said wouldn’t really matter. Albus didn’t love him anymore and, no matter what he said, he knew that was his own fault. It was his fault that the little secret smiles, the supposedly unimportant kisses in empty classrooms, the moments where he knew no one else would see, it was his fault they were all gone.

And Albus’ sympathetic smile was a stark reminder of everything he had lost. The way his cheeks crinkled when he smiled widely. His hair falling down into his eyes so that you couldn’t see that his eyes were also grinning. The way he only genuinely smiled when something had gone the way he’d wanted it, and only Scorpius really knew what that looked like.

It wasn’t really gone. Not really. Because Albus was still beside him, still willing to interact with him. It was just different. Scorpius knew that he was able to adapt, because that is what he had done over the course of his life. But it was different now, or it felt different. Because what if he didn’t want to adapt? What if he wanted to continue to live in the past?

What if that was easier?

“Thank you,” Albus’ voice cut through his through his thoughts. “Thank you for coming to see me.”  
“No problem,” Scorpius mumbled. “Yeah. It’s fine.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“I miss you,” Scorpius admitted. “At school, I really miss you.”  
“I’ll probably be back soon.”  
“Not likely,” Scorpius muttered. “Your dad didn’t seem thrilled when he turned up the other night. Probably won’t let you out of an adults’ site for months now.”  
“He came to see you at school?”   
“No,” Scorpius shook his head. “He came to see my dad on the night that I ran away. I needed – I just needed someone – someone who cared…sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Albus said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you – are you okay?”  
“Not really.”

* * *

Albus was waiting eagerly as the door opened the next evening and Scorpius walked in, smiling awkwardly. Albus was partially obsessed with his smile, which he did find slightly strange. He had only just met the boy and his smile was one of the parts of him that he couldn’t help but stare at.

Or, he found it strange, until Scorpius smiled. And then he couldn’t help but smile at the way that Scorpius’ eyes seemed to smile most out of everything, the way he seemed to light up when he smiled in any way. And the way that his smile, so far, had not failed to get Albus to smile back at him.  
“Hey,” Albus said, trying not to be overly eager. “How are you doing?”  
“I’m good,” Scorpius said quietly. “You?”  
“Still bored,” Albus said as Scorpius sat down, “but reasonable.” A pause. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re really quiet.”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Albus nodded, but he wasn’t entirely convinced. Scorpius had dark circles under his eyes, and one was more purple than the other. Albus didn’t mention it. Scorpius didn’t want to talk about it so he wouldn’t bring it up.

They chatted for a little while, discussing the other’s day, and then they sat in silence for a while. Albus partly wanted to ask a few more questions about the sort of relationship the two of them had had, but he knew that Scorpius wouldn’t want to answer them. And then, after the silence had hung over them for a couple of minutes, Scorpius began to hum.

Albus listened for about half a minute, before it hit him that the tune was familiar, that it had words that accompanied it, and he began to sing quietly. Scorpius looked at him, frowning slightly, but he did not stop, joining with lyrics that Albus knew were right, but he couldn’t for the life of him work out why he knew it.

And then he stopped, unsure as to what the next words were, and Scorpius smiled. Albus frowned at him slightly, trying to work out what was going on in his head.   
“I don’t know any more than that,” he said slowly. “I don’t know why – I just…know it.”  
“I taught you that song,” Scorpius smiled quietly. “Months ago. And you being you, completely stubborn and everything, you refused to learn the words to the part that wasn’t yours. I thought you would because you’d just pick it up naturally, but you didn’t. You managed to stubborn your way out of learning half the song.”

Albus laughed, and Scorpius joined him, collapsing into a fit of giggles that wasn’t entirely warranted by the situation, but was needed. They both needed to let off the steam and relax a little, even if was over something that small.  
“What was the song?” Albus asked.  
“For Good, from Wicked,” Scorpius said. “It’s a muggle musical that I like and I managed to convince you to learn the song.”  
“Convince me?”  
“It took an awful lot of effort,” Scorpius grinned. “But it was worth it.”  
“I’m glad,” Albus smiled.

There was a pause, and then Scorpius started to speak again, a new sense of happiness in his voice.  
“Albie,” he started slowly, “sorry, Albus.”  
“Yeah?”  
“She wiped your memory of people, didn’t she?”  
“Memory of people, but not knowledge.”  
“But you haven’t been able to remember any of the specific stuff I taught you.”  
“No.”  
“But you can remember this?”  
“Yeah.”  
“She didn’t win,” Scorpius finished, a triumphant smile on his face. “It didn’t work properly.”  
“I don’t remember anything else like that,” Albus said quickly.  
“Are you okay with that?”  
“I kinda have to be,” Albus pointed out.

Scorpius smiled again, nodding, and Albus looked away for a moment as Scorpius started to speak again.  
“I blamed myself for what happened,” he said quietly. “And I know you’re okay with it, and if you’re okay with it then so am I, but she didn’t do what she intended to, not entirely. It feels like a victory.”  
“Right…”  
“I’m sorry,” Scorpius said quickly.   
“What for?” Albus frowned at the conversation’s turn.  
“I’m implying there’s something wrong with you because what happened and there isn’t. I just…knowing that…helps…”  
“It’s okay,” Albus smiled. “It’s okay. I know what you’re saying.”

He did. With others, when they had implied something was wrong with him because of the memory loss, it pissed him off no-end. But Scorpius was kind and aware of himself, and Albus understood that he needed the reassurance. In their short time together, he had watched Scorpius pull himself back from something more times than he could count, either for fear of something, or because he just didn’t want to think about it. Albus knew that his friend needed the small victories.


	3. Restoration

Albus went home the next day. The Healers finally admitted that there was nothing they could do and had discharged him. His mum had turned up to take him home and had given him a tour of his home when they arrived. When it was done, he muttered something about wanting to just ‘have a moment’, and then sat down on his bed, staring around.

His room was relatively plain, a distinct lack of décor compared to his siblings’ rooms, but he found that he liked that. At the end of his bed, he found a spilt love potion and a blanket, and had realised it was the partial cause and product of the argument he’d had with his dad.

He hadn’t seen his dad since their ‘discussion’, and he didn’t want to. If that had been the only thing that his dad had wanted to talk about in the situation they were in, he didn’t want to interact further.

There wasn’t much else in his room, but it was where he stayed for the rest of the day, reading or looking around. No one bothered him and he liked it like that. He liked the peace and quiet when there were things to do.

The next morning, however, he went down to get some breakfast, and his mum told him that his grandparents and cousins would be visiting to see how he was. He had nodded and accepted it, but there was really nothing he’d rather do less. Family meant lots of people. Lots of people meant unwanted attention. And sympathy.

Stupid sympathies towards the lost, broken boy who couldn’t remember anything about his own life. Stupid sympathies from people who didn’t realise that you picked up quite a lot of information simply by being around people who talked. Stupid sympathies from people who would overwhelm him until all he would want to do would be to curl up in his room, and then he’d still have hours left.

He hated people. He very much, very sincerely, hated people. It was probably the only thing he could say for sure.

That, and the fact that he cared about Scorpius Malfoy.

For some reason, he cared about the creepy blond boy who had tried to hug him when they had first met. Albus understood why now, that it was a gesture of caring, but it had still terrified the shit out of him when it had happened.

But he still cared about the kind, quiet, funny boy who had only tried to care for him and make sure that he was okay. Albus was slightly unsure as to how he had managed to find such a caring, amazing friend, but he didn’t like to question it. He was immensely grateful. He didn’t need to question it.

When his family arrived later that day, Albus considered refusing to leave his room. He had expected there to be a reasonable number of people – he had a large family, after all. But the sheer number of cousins and aunts and uncles and people who turned up was completely ridiculous and he did believe that he was well within his rights to refuse to come downstairs.

He didn’t. He put some fresh clothes on and he stood up, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to go downstairs. He entered the lounge slowly, taking in the sheer amount of people sat around, all looking at him.

The majority of them had red hair and he recognised some of them from the photos his mum had shown him. None of them were his age, though he understood that they were at school and he’d only seen his siblings because they were his siblings and their meeting him was actually important.

Everyone around him was either a young adult, two people he assumed to be his grandparents, and some young children who were all playing in the corner of the room. Albus smiled awkwardly, his gaze landing on the man with bubble-gum blue hair. That was Teddy. He remembered that. That man was Teddy.

There was an awkward silence for what felt like a very long time, and then his grandmother stood up and walked towards him. He smiled nervously as she wrapped him in a gentle hug, and then he breathed a little easier. It was surprisingly comforting and something he hadn’t been aware that he needed.

When he pulled away, he looked around at the rest of his family. They had all started to talk again, and it made the situation a little less awkward to know he wasn’t required to be completely attentive.

He talked to a few people, attempting to keep conversation afloat without answering a hundred questions on what he did and didn’t remember. It seemed to be the only talking point, when all he really wanted to talk about was the things that he would usually talk about. Because, while he didn’t know what that was, he knew it wasn’t this.

Eventually, it did start to end, and people began to leave. Albus ate dinner that night, knowing that he did know a little more about his family and the people who would be around him for the rest of his life. Because they would be. That was what his life seemed to be.

A lot of family. Weird and wacky and, if he had to admit it, fairly wonderful.

And Scorpius Malfoy.

And he was reasonably sure that he could be happy with that as his ‘lot’. He didn’t need to know what had happened. He just needed to move forward with his life. He just wished other people would see that.

* * *

Scorpius had assumed that, once Albus went back home, he wouldn’t be allowed to visit, and the two of them would just have to write to each other and see each other in the holidays. He didn’t want to do that, didn’t know how he could do without his best friend, but he had managed to come to terms with it. That was something.

However, a couple of days after his last visit to Albus, someone dropped him a note saying that Professor McGonagall wanted to see him. He had gone to her office and been told that he had permission to visit Albus on certain evenings, should he want to.

He had said yes, within a split-second, and the next thing he knew, he was tumbling out onto the Potter’s carpet, trying not to spill soot everywhere. He stood up to find Albus sat on the sofa, staring at him. He had apparently been curled up with a book, and had not been notified that Scorpius was going to come tumbling out of his chimney, according to his face.

Scorpius couldn’t help but laugh as his shock, and then waited patiently as Albus recovered and stood up, walking towards him.  
“Hi.”  
“Uh, yeah, hi,” Albus said slowly. “I didn’t – when did this happen?”  
“About thirty seconds ago,” Scorpius said, fully aware that it wasn’t what Albus had asked.  
“No,” Albus grinned. “When did this get decided?”  
“I don’t know either,” Scorpius admitted. “Professor McGonagall just called me up to her office and said that I was allowed to come and see you a couple of times a week.”  
“Brilliant,” Albus said. “Do you want to come upstairs?”  
“Am I allowed to…”  
“Well, mum probably knows you’re here,” Albus said, “and it’s my room, so yeah, you’re allowed.”  
“Cool,” Scorpius nodded. “Yeah. Cool. Um.”

Albus laughed and grabbed Scorpius’ sleeve, pulling him up the stairs. Scorpius followed him, laughing with him as they closed the bedroom door. He looked around himself, trying to take in the details, and then he noticed Albus watching him closely.   
“Sorry,” he said quickly, looking at the floor.  
“It’s fine,” Albus smiled. “Are you – are you okay?”  
“I haven’t been here before,” Scorpius explained. “Our parents don’t really get on so…yeah…”  
“Well, I can’t really give you a tour,” Albus smiled. “But there’s lots of books.”

Scorpius smiled, looking at Albus. He was still smiling, still happy despite everything, and Scorpius was beyond grateful. It didn’t stop it from hurting, however.

He had meant what he said when he didn’t want to put pressure on Albus to ‘like’ him again. That wasn’t something that was possible. It was unfair to expect that much. But Scorpius knew that he was still in love with his friend, and it hurt that he didn’t remember that. It hurt that he didn’t remember the nights they had spent curled up together, talking and laughing. It hurt that he didn’t remember the relief with which Scorpius spoke after they had returned from the otherworld.

It hurt that it was over.

But he refused to say anything, simply because he didn’t want to put Albus under that sort of pressure. He wanted Albus to be happy. That mattered more than how he felt. It would always matter more than how he felt.

He looked at Albus again, coughing awkwardly as he realised that his friend was watching him nervously. He shook himself and then straightened up properly, searching for something to say.  
“You all right?” Albus asked.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Albus said gently, walking up to him slowly. “Can I…”  
“What?”  
“Can I give you a hug?”

Scorpius froze for a moment, and then nodded, trying not to cry as Albus wrapped his arms around him gently. He hadn’t considered that Albus would need something like this, and hadn’t let himself think about how much he needed.

That appeared to have been a mistake in itself, because now he was on the verge of becoming a flood of tears, trying not to let it spill out. Albus didn’t need to have to cope with that. He could stop it himself.

But he didn’t, and he tried not to scream out in frustration with himself. As Albus pulled away, he spotted the state that Scorpius was becoming and he took his hands gently, leading him to the bed.  
“Hey,” Albus murmured. “Hey, Scorp. Hey…what’s going on?”  
“I’ve missed you,” Scorpius tried not to sob too loudly. “I just – we’ve never been apart at school and I miss you so much…I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. Please don’t feel bad. It’s my fault I just…”  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Albus said gently, pulling him back into a hug. “I miss you too, when you’re not here.”  
“You do?”  
“Of course I do,” Albus smiled. “You’re funny and smart and kind and you care about me.”

Scorpius didn’t have a reply to that.

“Look,” Albus continued. “I know you still love me and I know you’re struggling with that, and that’s okay, because you can’t just get rid of that. And I’m here to talk, if you need it. If that’s not awkward.”  
“Thank you,” Scorpius whispered. “Thank you.”  
“If you need to talk about it,” Albus murmured, “you can talk about it.”  
“Isn’t that the only thing everyone else talks about?” Scorpius looked at him. “I thought you’d hate me talking about it…I’d like to try and just move on…carry on…”  
“So would I,” Albus said softly. “But I started taking it for granted.”  
“Taking what for granted?”  
“Your smile. I’d much rather you were able to smile and if talking about it will help, then I’m okay to talk about it.”

Scorpius couldn’t hold back the floodgates after that.

After Scorpius had managed to stop crying, the two of them spent the rest of the evening reading and chatting on the bed. Albus tried to give Scorpius’ book back. Scorpius insisted that he keep it, saying that he’d read it about a hundred times. And the evening had been fun. The evening had been good.

* * *

Very quickly, Albus began to get sick of the sympathetic looks from various family and visitors. He got sick of the fact that people saw him as broken because he couldn’t remember anything. He hated the fact that it was the only thing anyone ever wanted to talk about.

So, he took to just hiding in his room until Scorpius came to visit, and then he started to come to life a little, simply because Scorpius was different. Scorpius was upset over the whole thing, but that was natural. And, while he was upset, he didn’t insist on making that the only topic of conversation. He didn’t fixate on it.

He didn’t view Albus as broken.

And that was only thing that Albus wanted. He wanted to move on with his life, go back and carry on with his life. Maybe he could go back to school, make Scorpius happy. Scorpius needed that. And he was beginning to realise that he needed it too.

He cared about Scorpius. More than was probably justified, given how long he had known him, but that didn’t stop the fact that he cared about him.

He stood up. He had now spent two consecutive days in his room. He knew that he should actually venture into the outer world, and maybe he could talk to his mum about what was actually going to happen next. So, he pulled on a jumper, which happened to be the jumper that Scorpius had left on his last visit, and opened his bedroom door, breathing out slowly.

He walked downstairs slowly to find his mum in the kitchen, poring over several newspaper pages. She looked up as he walked in, smiling awkwardly.  
“Albus,” she smiled. “Are you okay, love?”  
“Yeah,” Albus nodded, sitting down next to her. “Yeah, I’m fine.”  
“I’ve just got a little bit of work to finish, and then we can have some lunch,” Ginny said.  
“Okay,” Albus nodded.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Ginny working, Albus trying to figure out how to phrase his question. It was an important question, one he really needed to ask. If he didn’t, he knew very well that staying as he was would drive him around the bend. Properly.  
“Mum?”  
“Yes, sweetheart?”  
“Can I go back to school?”

Albus didn’t know where he got his lack of subtly from, but it wasn’t particularly helpful. At least it got his message across.  
“You want to go back to school?” Ginny put her quill down.  
“I still remember the stuff I learnt,” Albus explained, “and I still have to live the rest of my life.”  
“It’s only been a couple of weeks,” Ginny said, her voice full of concern.   
“I’m not disorientated,” Albus said. “I’m fine, and I’m just wasting time at home. All I do is read and see family. I mean, it’s nice to meet people, but I should be at school.”  
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, love, simply because you don’t have memories of a lot of what – happened. I can teach you and it’ll be okay.”  
“What happened?” Albus asked. “What’s so bad about the place that you would rather home-school me?”

Ginny took a slow breath and Albus waited for her to speak. He couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t want his life to go back to normal a little.  
“You were quite badly bullied,” Ginny said quietly. “You hated it there, and it won’t be any better, especially now that you can’t remember it.”  
“I was still there,” Albus pointed out. “I was still going there so it must have been bearable.”  
“Albus, do you remember anything about your time there?”  
“No,” Albus tried to remove the bite from his words. “No, that’s what this whole thing is about. I don’t remember. And that doesn’t matter. I just want to carry on.”  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  
“Why not?”  
“You’ll get hurt,” Ginny bit her lip. “Your dad would side with me in this. It isn’t a good idea.”  
“Are we counting his opinion when I’ve met him once and we argued during that meeting,” Albus snapped. “Look, I get what you see when you – when anyone – looks at me. I get that you think I’m broken because I have no memory and I’ll never get these memories back. I get that it scares you because I was fucking terrified when I first – woke up. But I’m not broken. I am fine and I don’t want to live like I’m broken anymore.”  
“I don’t think you’re broken, Albus–”  
“Don’t you?” Albus tried not to raise his voice. “Because I can’t help but feel like everyone does, and it’s suffocating. Every time I talk to someone, it comes with a memory and a ‘do you remember that?’ No. No, of course I don’t remember it. If I did, I would fucking say something.”

Silence.

“The only person who doesn’t look at me like I’m less, like I’m broken, is Scorpius. And he cares. He cares about me and he understands so please, please, try to understand that I’m not broken and I just want to carry on with my life, no matter how patchy my memory is.”  
“Albus…”  
“Please.”

Albus stood up slowly, taking deep breaths. He’d let his temper fly too soon, but he felt better for getting it out. He started to walk towards the kitchen door, and then he stopped, turning around again.  
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

And then he walked up to his room in silence, trying to think through what he was going to do. He flopped onto his bed after he’d shut the door, wrapping his duvet around him so that he was curled up like some sort of miserable burrito.

And he stayed like that for what felt like hours, just thinking. It made it to the point where he was no longer thinking, and was just staring at wall, trying to will the time to move faster. Or fall asleep. That would have done the trick as well.

He didn’t react to the knock on door, trying to ignore it as he had done to the rest of the noises around him that morning. And when the door opened, he didn’t have the strength to throw a pillow and tell whoever it was to piss off.  
“Hey,” Scorpius’ voice was quiet, slightly nervous at disturbing him, but Albus rolled over, looking at him.  
“Hey,” he muttered, trying to sit up; it wasn’t particularly easy when he had wrapped himself impossibly tightly in the blanket.  
“Are you okay?” Scorpius sat down on the bed, prompting Albus to give up with the blanket and just lie back again.  
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just feel – numb. And pissed off. Mainly numb.”  
“Your mum is quite upset,” Scorpius said quietly. “What happened?”  
“I got pissed off,” Albus said slowly. “I asked to go back to school. She said it wasn’t a good idea. And I snapped.”  
“You want to come back to school?”  
“I am so fucking tired of being treated like I’m broken. I want to get out. I want to start living properly. That involves going to school. So I want to go to school. I still remember what I learnt. I just want to carry on learning.”  
“And?”  
“She thought it was a bad idea because she said I got bullied and I hated it.”  
“You weren’t fond of it,” Scorpius murmured.  
“You think I shouldn’t come back?”  
“I think you should understand how much you hated it there, but of course I want you to come back. I want to have my friend back at school with me.”

Albus smiled at him, feeling the warmth glow inside him as Scorpius smiled back at him, taking his hand slowly. He squeezed it gently and Albus’ smile grew.  
“Are you getting bored of being cooped up?” Scorpius asked.  
“Very much so.”  
“Then come over to my house for a day. Just for a change of scene.”  
“Okay,” Albus nodded. “Yeah, okay. Just give a moment to…”

He rolled off the side of the bed, taking all the blankets with him. Scorpius laughed as he rolled over, tumbling out of the middle of the mass of duvet, then offered him a hand to help him stand up. Albus grabbed his jacket and shoes before opening his bedroom door.

They walked downstairs slowly and Albus stopped awkwardly as they entered the kitchen. Ginny looked up as they entered and Albus walked over awkwardly, hugging her.  
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m really sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Ginny stroked his hair softly. “I understand.”

After they had finished hugging, Albus went back to Scorpius, who was looking at the floor awkwardly.   
“Would it be okay if Albus came over to my house for a day?” he mumbled. “He’d be fine and everything. He just said he wanted to get out…and I thought…”  
“That’s fine,” Ginny smiled at him. “Have fun, both of you.”  
“Thank you, Mrs. Potter.”

Scorpius tugged on his sleeve awkwardly, pulling him towards the fireplace, and Albus smiled softly at him. The two of them both took a handful of Floo Powder and Scorpius stepped into the fireplace first. A cry of ‘Malfoy Manor’ and a column of flame later, he had disappeared and Albus stepped in, closing his eyes and throwing the powder down.

* * *

Scorpius watched Albus tumble out of the fireplace, smiling as his friend slid a few feet over the polished floor. He helped him stand up, trying not to laugh as he stared around in awe.

“You live here?”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius mumbled. “Yeah. It’s the – family – home.”  
“It’s – well, it’s…”  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

He smiled again as Albus jumped at the sound of footsteps behind them. The two of them turned around to see Scorpius’ dad walking towards them.  
“Scorpius,” he said. “I thought you were staying at the Potter’s today.”  
“Albus needed to get out,” Scorpius explained. “Oh, Albus, this is my dad. Dad, this is Albus.”  
“Very good to meet you,” Draco shook Albus’ hand firmly.  
“Have we met before?” Albus couldn’t help but ask.  
“No, I don’t believe we have,” Draco smiled.   
“I thought we could go down to Croyde today,” Scorpius said. “Maybe?”  
“It’s quite cold today.”  
“We could do the walk or something. Just something – outside.”  
“Were you planning on Flooing in?”  
“Yes,” Scorpius nodded. “I’ve got some spare change upstairs. Enough to get back, as well.”  
“Right,” his dad nodded. “And does Albus have permission to go?”  
“As long as I come back in one piece,” Albus said, “it should be fine.”

Scorpius’ dad smiled at them, nodding. Scorpius took this as permission and dashed up the stairs, sprinting down to his room, grabbing his jar of spare change, and dashing back. Albus was giggling a little as he almost threw himself down the stairs and stumbled to a halt again.   
“What?” he looked at him.  
“That was brilliant,” Albus grinned. “Genuinely. That was brilliant.”

Scorpius shook his head again, pulling Albus back to the fireplace. This time, he pulled them in together and Albus coughed as a cloud of dust exploded around them.  
“Croyde Bay Floo site!” Scorpius shouted, shutting his eyes tightly as the column of flame rose up around them.

The spinning sensation was, as always, highly unpleasant, and Scorpius did his best to keep his eyes and mouth shut until they had been firmly spat out on the floor. Then, he stood up slowly, swaying on the spot before starting to walk into the village with Albus.  
“Have you been here?” Albus asked.  
“A couple of times,” Scorpius nodded. “Mainly during summer. It’ll be a lot quieter today. It’s a bit cold.”  
“I noticed,” Albus laughed, shivering slightly.  
“Maybe we shouldn’t go in the sea.”  
“There’s a beach?”  
“Yep,” Scorpius nodded. “Or we could walk up to the edge of the sea. It’s a nice walk and it might be slightly warmer than dipping our toes in the sea. Bit windy, though.”  
“That sounds cool,” Albus smiled. “Shall we do that?”

Scorpius nodded, smiling back, and the two of them started to walk. They walked down the road, and both of them stared out as the sea came into view. It was sunny, but cold, and the sunlight glinted off the waves as they crashed over the rocks, washing over the sand. They carried on along the road, passing several holiday parks and then reaching a small carpark with a sign that read ‘Baggy Point car park’.

They walked past this, carrying on around the side of the hill. The wind had started to pick up and Scorpius ended up huddling up against Albus. He didn’t object, putting an arm around him to keep the two of them warm. Scorpius appreciated it more than Albus probably realised, but he didn’t say. He didn’t want to make it weird.

As the path started to get a little steeper, Scorpius started to breathe more deeply. Not because he was out of breath. Simply because he had missed the sea and the smell of salt was beyond relaxing.  
“Scorpius?”  
“Yes?”  
“Have I changed much since – this – happened? Am I different?”  
“Not really,” Scorpius smiled. “You’re still the same level of social.”  
“Is that my defining feature?” Albus grinned.  
“No. Your defining feature is definitely your eyes.”  
“Not my stunning personality?”  
“Is it stunning, though?” Scorpius said quietly, trying not to giggle.

Albus laughed with him, elbowing him gently. Scorpius elbowed him back, a little harder, and then took off running down the path. He laughed as Albus ran after him, shouting at him to stop. He didn’t until he was completely out of breath, and then he stumbled to a stop, collapsing onto a bench.

Albus joined him about half a minute later, panting loudly. He sat down heavily next to Scorpius, giving him another gentle elbow. Scorpius laughed, staring out at the sea.  
“It’s beautiful up here,” Albus murmured, still breathing heavily. “It’s really beautiful.”  
“It’s normally not this quiet,” Scorpius said. “I like it when it is. It’s – it’s better like this.”

There was a short silence and then Scorpius jumped slightly as Albus reached out to take his hand. Albus retreated immediately, but Scorpius shook his head, smiling gently.   
“Is that – okay?” Albus asked.  
“Yeah,” Scorpius nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s – it’s nice.”  
“I’m glad,” Albus smiled.

There was a silence for a while as the pair simply stared out at the sea, smiling in each other’s presence. Scorpius struggled to contain his joy at the fact that Albus was holding his hand. He knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up. He knew he shouldn’t imagine that Albus might be starting to feel something for him again. But it was difficult.

It was difficult when he had spent every night crying himself to sleep, not because Albus disliked him, but because they had been happy, despite Scorpius’ trauma and Albus’ struggles, they had both been happy, and then the universe or fate or whatever it was had decided that it wasn’t allowed and had ripped it all away.

He had cried less once he had met Albus and things didn’t seem entirely rocky. But in his mind there was still the knowledge that Albus would never truly know how much he was loved by him.

Unless he did know now. Unless some sort of unspoken knowledge had passed between them and Albus understood. Maybe that was what this was. An understanding. Not a return. Just an understanding. That was something.  
“Scorpius.”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“For what?”  
“Lying.”  
“Albus, what are you talking about?”  
“I said I’m not broken,” Albus said quietly, “and I’m not. But I’m not whole.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Ever since I woke up, since I met you properly, I’ve just felt like there’s something missing. Maybe it’s my memory. Maybe it’s a person. Maybe it’s a feeling. But whatever it is, it’s just gone. And it doesn’t leave me broken. Just – just…”  
“Chipped,” Scorpius finished gently. “I understand. And you didn’t lie. Being broken and chipped are different things.”  
“I didn’t want to say to my mum, to anyone. I didn’t want them to think there was anything wrong. I just – there is something missing. Sometimes it feels big. Sometimes it feels small. And when I’m with you, it feels – I forget about it. Or maybe it disappears.”

Scorpius looked at him carefully, squeezing his hand. He was trying to say that it would be okay, without words. Words didn’t seem right at the point. Albus leaned into his shoulder, resting his head on him, and Scorpius smiled.

Maybe memories weren’t important. Maybe the memory of a feeling was something that couldn’t be wiped away. Because Albus had known him for a couple of weeks at most, and he was doing something that he had not done for years, beforehand.

And then it happened. Then, Albus sat up properly again. And he spoke.

“Look at me?”

Scorpius did, smiling softly.

And Albus kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that and hope you found it vaguely cute.  
Thanks for reading.  
Kudos and comments appreciated  
Twitter: @evieadams273

**Author's Note:**

> So that's the end of Part One. And pain. Pain will come. Hope you liked that.  
Thanks for reading.  
Kudos and comments appreciated  
Twitter: @evieadams273


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